Sun's Heat
by Louisa4533
Summary: Companion to Clashing Tides and Winged Fire. The trio of Alexis, Louisa, and Jace return as danger strikes again. After a series of uniformed monster attacks and some campers who aren't waking up, they come to a conclusion that is intimidating and scary, something older than Gaea herself. And they have to battle it to get their friends and family back. Complete!
1. Prisoner

**I know most of you who are reading this story, know that I normally work alone, but this is a version of a story that my best friend and I wrote, and are continuing to write. It's a little different from the original, but I think it was one of my better moves. Thank you sooo much, xanimecrazedjojox, for giving me the inspiration for this book and for being my best friend.**

**I don't own PJO or KC. Really, who do you think I am? C.S. Lewis?**

I

Alexis

Enemy

"Here we are, in the same spot we were in three years ago. Only with swords." I growled.

"I tried. Did you believe me?" she said.

"Of course not. Everyone knew the Greek gods weren't real. And then I was the only survivor of a house fire, kidnapped, discreetly claimed, and firefighting." I said. We circled each other, swords out. "And now I'm a legacy of Apollo, sister of the most powerful demigod ever born, and have a brother who defeated Gaea herself."

"Who's the new one?"

"Louisa, cousin to Nico, granddaughter of Jupiter, daughter of Poseidon, peacemaker between the Greeks and Egyptians, my sister, and the one who extinguished the last flame of the forest fires of Colorado last year." I said with plenty of pomp. "And you have another sister besides Thalia, who lived at Camp Half-Blood for three years before anyone found her." I said slyly. "Eva Winston."

She started, and I took the advantage to do a disarming maneuver, driving it into the ground. She grabbed at another knife hidden somewhere, but I stopped her with sword point. "Collaborator with Luke, slave to the Lord of Time, defeater of the first Hydra, enemy of the gods, servant of the earth, killer of Michael Yew, person who set the Colorado fires, and overall a dangerous enemy, stopped by a sword's tip. That's a first." I mused. "I'm still wondering how I ever considered you a friend. I don't hand over trust to anyone."

"It's a gift." she said. With that, she lunged for her sword, pushing mine away from her chin with her bare hand. She grabbed it, rolled, and came up standing. She lunged with the butt of her sword towards my head, and I backed up. I slashed at her, locking her sword with mine, and grabbed it out of her hand with my free hand. I dropped it to the ground and kicked it away.

She grabbed my leg, making me trip and fall. She knocked the sword out of my hand and pinned one of my legs down securely with her knees, grabbed her sword and stabbed it an inch away from my neck, so if I moved too much my neck would slice. "Fool." She whispered in my ear. She had my arms pinned, but not well. I twisted towards her thumb, and she was forced to let go. I grabbed at the sword at the same time kicked the other leg at her, knocking her off of me completely. Sword in hand, I rolled and came up standing.

She looked at me. Her ice blue eyes were turning into an indigo color, and I knew what was coming. I tackled her and pinned her much more securely than she did me. Lightning struck right where I had been standing, and the thunder deafened me. "You do remember Eva from first grade." I said triumphantly. "Never guessed she was your sister, huh? Even after Louisa defended her with a pencil and stabbed the monster that was after her, while you sat and did what?" Lightning attempted to blast me, and I rolled off her. After the boom, I continued. "Nothing. You knew what it was, what they were, and you did _nothing_."

"Maybe I was wrong. I thought you were my friend." she said accusingly.

"I'm still battling that too. Although I know I'm not, not after hearing your background from Percy, who has a serious grudge against you, for killing his friend."

I summoned a wave to pin her to the ground. Suddenly she got a lucky shot with the lightning, as I wasn't as close to her. Normally, I could tell because her irises would turn indigo blue. I groaned and rolled over and managed to stand. My chest really hurt, and my lungs were having spasms. I breathed through it.

She was already free of my wave, since I had lost all my concentration when she blasted me. I stood before she got to me. "You want a duel? You got one." I told her.

We fought with a passion that was unrivaled and vicious. We used to be as close as sisters, even though I was an only child before I came to Camp Half-Blood. The duel ended when I did several offensive moves in a tight sequence and ended it with knocking her feet out from under her with a sword at her neck, not just a tip. "Hey, Louisa. I have a prisoner for us to turn in. Chiron will be very happy to see us mostly alive and well." I said, not looking back.

"Well, it seems that you've met your match, Alexis. Luke must've had good trainers. Here I thought Percy, Eva, and I were the only ones who could slow you down." Louisa said, coming out from the shadows of the rock where I had previously seen her. Our enemy startled again.

"So nice to meet the daughter of Zeus who betrayed us at the age of five." Louisa said sarcastically. "You probably don't remember me, but I was in your class with Eva." Louisa smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was creepy. Her eyes conveyed more ice than the enemy's.

"Am I aloud to stand up now? My back doesn't like bending over like this." I said.

"Sure. Get up, prisoner." I stood stiffly. The prisoner hauled herself up.

She was my height, only a quarter of an inch shorter, with dark brown hair and ice blue eyes that deepened into indigo if she was mad or was going to blast you. She was one of those people who was right on the line of skinny and fat, and couldn't go in either direction. She was strong, both physically and mentally, and I learned the second summer I stayed at Camp Half-Blood who she truly was, and that she's on the loose.

I surveyed out surroundings. We were in Arizona, on one of those mesas. The Colorado River wound its way off to the north side. The mesa, considering the battle with lightning and water, wasn't in bad shape.

"By the way, why did you pick this place? I thought you were afraid of heights." I turned my attention back to the prisoner.

"That was a ruse." she said bluntly. She was currently being tied up by Louisa. Metal hand cuffs, and a rope binding her ankles together, with a bit in between so she'd have to shuffle on. Another rope connected with the one on her ankles and led to Louisa's hand, so if the prisoner did something she didn't like, she could jerk her feet out from under her.

"Good job, Louisa. I'll get us a ride." I whistled loudly, once very long, and once short. Guido and Porkpie appeared on the horizon.

Guido trotted to a stop in front of Louisa and the prisoner. I swung myself up on Porkpie.

Louisa and the prisoner were on Guido, who supported them just fine.

Half an hour later, we were standing in the Big House in front of Chiron.

"May we present," Louisa started.

"a prisoner, Joann Payton, enemy, spy, and traitor to the gods." I finished. "The person who set the Colorado fires, and evaded capture for eight years. And previously, my best friend."

**Ok! So, technically it's tomorrow, as it is 12:01 as I'm writing this. I will update in around noon, I think, about twelve hours from now.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Bizzar? Strange? Not something I would normally do?**

**But anyway. You know, I discovered that if I directly ask for reviews, I get like one or two, and then if I ask you questions, like the ones above, I get a lot more. Weird, huh?**


	2. A Song of Pain

**I own this song, though it was inspired by Now Your Gone by Anthony Callea, and I really did sing this with two friends, though I wasn't the one who played the guitar.**

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

II

Alexis

The Song of Pain

I walked to the basement of the Big House, holding a gallon of water. I opened the door silently and looked in. Joann was facing away from me. I stepped in and hurriedly closed it behind me. I stepped on a spare twig, and she wordlessly growled and was up instantly.

"Chill, Lightning McQueen. I'm just bringing water." The old nickname brought a pain to my heart, but I couldn't help it.

"I don't want it." she growled.

My mood evaporated, replaced by anger. "Fine, die of thirst. That'll really show me." I turned away and walked out the door.

I managed to calmly set the water jug on the counter in the Big House's kitchen, and went to my cabin. The Apollo cabin gave me a guitar after they learned I was a legacy of Apollo. I tried to refuse it, but they hired the Stoll brothers to sneak the guitar into my bunk. I didn't argue after that.

I picked up my guitar, and went to the amphitheater, figuring I'd be alone.

I sat down on a stone that lined the hearth, which was doused from its normal fire during campfires.

I strummed the strings. I let my fingers play whatever they wanted to, and I sang.

_Alone.  
__Alo-one.  
__So alone…_

_I wanted to believe,  
__I wanted to find,  
__That you were the person  
__I thought you to be._

_I know you don't wanna see me cryin'  
__I know you don't wanna feel my pain  
__But sometimes you just gotta  
__let it out!_

_I've lost so many  
__I've lost so much  
__But sometimes you just  
__Have to let it out!_

_Let it ou-ut._

_I know you don't wanna see me cryin'  
__I know you don't wanna feel my pain  
__But sometimes you just gotta  
__let it out!_

I struggled to keep my voice from cracking, and I continued to sing, with tears running down my face.

_I know you're gone  
__You're not the person I thought you to be  
__I stand here proud  
__With tears streaming down my-y face_

_I know you don't wanna see me cryin'  
__I know you don't wanna feel my pain  
__But sometimes you just gotta  
__let it ou-ut!_

_I know you're gone  
__And I'll only see the person I know in my dreams  
__I stand here proud  
__Singin' my heart out_

_Just to let out the pain. (Let out the pa-ain)  
__Just to let out the pain…_

I bent over my guitar, sobbing. "Just to let out the pain." I whispered. I felt an arm slide around me.

_We stand here cryin'  
__Lookin' for answers to our pain  
__We lost our friend  
__And in her place an enemy-y_

I looked up. Eva was sitting next to me. I strummed the strings for her. (A/N: **Louisa **Eva_ Alexis)_

We sit here **(We sit here)  
**We thought you **(We thought you)  
****Were our friend!**

Louisa was standing at the entrance, singing with us. She came over and sat down, putting her arm around me too. We sang together, even though this was just a song that we made up as we went along.

_**Feel our pain.  
**__**See us cry.  
**__**Sometimes a girl just has to let it out!  
**__(Let it ou-ut)_

We stood up. I hadn't realized that in missing lunch, half the camp went looking for us and found us here. They looked distant, I could tell that most of them were thinking of traitors, such as Silena Beaugaurd or Luke. Or maybe a lost loved one, in one of the wars and didn't make it out. All of them had at least one tear running down their face.

_Sometimes you just have to let it out.  
__Whe-ther it be  
__Singin' or cryin'  
__Laughin' or yellin'  
__Sharing your pain_

_Sometimes you just have to let it out_ **(let it out)  
**Sometimes you just have to let it out _**(let it out)  
**_**Sometimes you just have to let it out** _(let it out)_

_**Just let it ou-ut.**_

With one last strum, I ended the song.

Applause started, quiet at first, and then once people got jolted out of their memories, they started clapping too.

I wiped my eyes with the back of one hand and laughed a little at the cheering.

We all have each other's backs.


	3. Emotional Mess

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

III

Louisa

Emotional Mess

I saw Alexis walking with forced calmness to our cabin, and then five minutes later she ran out, heading for the amphitheater.

I turned to air and followed her, worried.

When I got there, her back was to me and she was singing and playing her guitar. I looked at my watch. It was half-way through lunch.

Alexis had a good voice, I admit. I think it would be better if she wasn't shaking while she was singing with suppressed sobs.

A lot of people had gone looking for Alexis and me. They just saw me leaning against the entrance and looking in, and of course, busy-bodies, they had to look at what I was looking at. Most of them went in and sat down, enchanted by her song. She apparently was so wrapped up in it she didn't notice us.

Eva came in, and put an arm around her after she completely broke down for a moment, and sung for her, while Alexis played. I began singing with them, and moved over to where she sat and put an arm around her other side. I saw Percy and Annabeth in the stands. Both of them looked distant.

After we stopped singing, I met Percy outside the amphitheater.

Before he could say anything insensitive, I said, "You fought one, Percy. A monster who wore the face of a friend. You knew Luke for a week. She's known Joann for three years."

He nodded and walked away.

_Maybe we should've left Joann be… she's indirectly causing an emotional mess._

**Well, that's nice to know.**

**So, what'dja think about the song and the emotional mess? Joann sure is able to wreak havoc on the camp...**

**Boy this is a short chapter.**

**By the way, people, please do read author's notes at the bottom and the top! To Guest: yes, I did make the lyrics up myself, but the song was inspired by 'Now Your Gone' by Anthony Callea.**


	4. Unexpected Attack

**I don't freaking own PJO or KC! Jeez! I am _not _Rick Riordan!**

IV

Alexis

Unexpected Attack

I walked to the Poseidon cabin and put my guitar in its case.

I'm here. Now what?

"You go back to activities as if you were always there, that's what you do." Louisa suddenly appeared, leaning against the bedpost. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Jeez, don't_ do_ that!" I yelped.

"Why not? It's fun to watch people jump out of their skin." she said smoothly.

"Prankster. You're almost as bad as the Stolls." I muttered. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're a legacy of Hermes too."

"You know what, neither would I. Except I have no way to prove it." she said. "And actually, I'm _worse_ than the Stolls, since I prank them right back and can go under doors and things like that."

"Don't tell Katie that, because then she'll hunt you down." I warned.

"What, that I'm worse than the Stolls?"

"Yeah."

Then I heard a really loud scream. "Oh my ****ing gods!" someone screamed outside the Poseidon doorway. Louisa instantly had her knife in her hand, and I grabbed at my bag and found a sword. There was a pounding noise at the door that could've been feet going by or someone trying to knock the door down.

I crossed the space between the bunk and the door in two long strides and flung it open.

"The camp is under attack! Ready your weapons!" was screamed into my face. I backed up and saw a camper I didn't recognize. Probably a first year camper, or someone from the Brooklyn House I didn't recognize.

"What's attacking us!" I yelled after them.

"Monsters!"

"Specifics?" I muttered. I grabbed at my bag, grabbed my belt, slid all my throwing knives in the pockets, grabbed my quiver and slung it over my back, strapped on two swords to my knife belt, grabbed my bow and slung that over my quiver, and checked to see if I needed anything else. I grabbed a small shield and slung it over my back to cover everything else. I wasn't going to weigh myself down with armor, and that would take time to strap on, and that's the one thing I didn't have.

Louisa was decorated with her staff and wand, two swords, her knife, and a large shield. She was strapping on another sword, I recognized it as her backup sword in case something happened to the other two.

I charged out, a sword in my right hand and nothing in my left. I stopped, Louisa running into me. "What's- oh my gods." she started, and then looked at the army. Or rather, armies.

Our army was going hand-to-hand with the monster army. It wasn't one of those organized battles you see in movies, but just one big battle. It was a sea of orange t-shirts, fur, swords, and claws. The Apollo cabin was in the trees, sniping at monsters. Everyone else was in the fray.

"Go, go!" I said, pushing Louisa towards the battle. I climbed the nearest tree, and shot at monsters until my quiver was empty. I looked for someone who really needed help. Drew was battling a Cyclops that was twice her size and losing. I drew one of my throwing knives and hurled it at the monster. It stuck right between the eyes of the monster and it disintegrated before Drew's eyes. The knife fell to the ground at Drew's feet. She looked in my direction, and I waved.

Let's see. Louisa and Percy were cutting apart the enemy with a mixture of magic and swords. The rest of the Aphrodite cabin was blinding the monsters with pink powder. Piper was using her charmspeak, and so was Drew, now that she was ok. Lou Ellen and the rest of the Hecate cabin were throwing fireballs at the enemy, joined with Leo and Tesla. Lightning streaked down the sky, and I assumed that Eva was doing her thing. Nico had a wide circle of space and he was charging them with no weapons except his sword. The Athena cabin was yelling instructions in between stabbing monsters.

Annabeth was stabbing one monster while another came up behind her and prepared to kill her. Annabeth turned around just as my knife impaled its head. Her eyes widened and she looked in my direction. I waved.

The satyrs were making monsters grow roots and turn into trees with their reed magic.

Clarisse was spearing a monster, and the rest of the Ares cabin was whopping the monsters' butts, sometimes literally.

Pollux was helping out the satyrs and hacking at monsters at the same time.

Hephaestus cabin were hurriedly setting up tripwires and Greek fire. Hermes was playing pranks on the monsters and killing them when they fell for it. The old, 'you pass you live' thing. That got really old at the Brooklyn House.

The Demeter cabin was growing vines around the monsters' legs and making them trip. The smaller cabins were grouped together and using their powers to make monsters have really bad luck, go to sleep, have no victory, or turn really pretty colors, not to mention hacking at them with swords and banging them upside the head with shields.

I didn't see anyone else in trouble, so I aimed knives at random monsters, making people start when the monster they're fighting crumbles to dust.

When I ran out of knives I leaped out of the tree and into the fray. I drew my two swords and did a deadly dance with them, slashing monsters in half, cutting off heads, and a bunch of other gruesome things.

I reached a monster that wasn't. It was an Egyptian demon, and it was shouting instructions to the other monsters. I was planning on coming up behind it and stabbing it in the back, but of course it didn't quite work that way.

It grabbed hold of one of my swords and I instinctively twisted it. The demon was forced to let go. Its knife head came cleaving towards me and I blocked the strike by putting my swords in an 'x' and pushing his head back up. He had wicked claws, and used them. I blocked a strike with my sword and there were sparks. I slashed his head off, and he turned to sand. A wisp of red, like red smoke rose up from it and dispersed.

I turned around and blocked a strike from a _dracnae_ and stabbed her in the gut. She exploded into golden powder.

I soon saw that the other monsters had fled after I killed the leader. I was still disturbed by the wisp of red, but I could ask Sadie or Carter about it later.

I went around, picking up my knives and the arrows that the tip hadn't broken off of.

I saw the Apollo cabin doing the same thing, and others were picking up broken or bent swords off the ground.

I saw Louisa. She looked exhausted and ready to fall over, and was weakly arguing with Percy. Louisa collapsed and Percy picked her up bridal style. I grabbed at my pockets for nectar or ambrosia. I found a packet of it and tore it open, running toward them.

"I got ambrosia." I said hurriedly. Luckily, Louisa was still conscious enough to chew. Soon she was able to groan and sit up.

"Percy, put me down." she said tiredly.

"Uh-uh." I said. "You've exhausted your reserves, and even if Percy does put you down I'll pick you up. And you're too weak to fight." I said stubbornly.

I looked around at the injuries. There was only one major one, thankfully, that I could see in a glance. Clarisse broke her leg kicking at a Cyclops, and one of the Aphrodite girls was missing a large hunk of hair, but you would swear someone was torturing her. Mitchell had a long gash down his arm, which I went over and took a look at. I grabbed at my bag, which I had slung over my shoulder to store the quiver and bow and belt when I ran out of things to shoot, and got a marigold poultice. I warned him it would hurt a little, and slathered it on the shallow cut. I grabbed a roll of bandages and held the wound closed, and gently wrapped the bandage around the cut.

"There, that'll last until you get a turn in the infirmary." I said, as we were all trickling down to the cabins or to the Big House to either crash or get medical help. I saw Percy and Louisa heading in the direction of the cabins.

Drew was hobbling on one leg to the Big House, and I made her sit down so I could slather my marigold poultice on the deep wound and wrapped her leg up. I helped her to the infirmary, and then went to find someone else.

For the next three hours, the infirmary was packed full and I moved the more serious wounds to the front, and patched up others who only needed a couple Band-Aids. I think I sent up three prayers of thanks to whoever invented Band-Aids.

To the people who had cramping muscles I slathered on a poultice of marigold and thyme and sent them on their way.

Marta, the cabin counselor to Tyche, was literally bleeding to death. She had a long gash across her stomach, and when I saw that I rushed over. I lowered her to the ground and grabbed one of my precious spider's silk cloths and pressed it to her stomach. I rolled up her blood-stained shirt that was trash anyways, and slipped the cloth over it.

"Medic!" I shouted. "Ambrosia." I asked crisply. Someone passed up a block of ambrosia. I slipped a bit into her mouth, hoping it would dissolve and then she'd swallow. "Marigold poultice." Jace passed it to me. I lifted up the cloth and slathered the open wound with it. Marta was unconscious, so she most likely wouldn't feel any pain. "Band-Aids." I said. "Small. Three." Jace passed them to me, and I forcibly closed up the wound, and taped it shut with the Band-Aids. "Bandages. Help me sit her up, but don't jerk her around." Jace propped her limp body up, and I wound the bandages around her lower torso. "Lower her down gently. Can you do anything? Unless I water heal, this is all I can do, and all the medics are scurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off." I asked him in a low voice.

He set a grim face. "I'll try." I got up, out of his way, and watched anxiously. He knelt over her, got a tube from his pocket and put some of the paste near her wound. He laid his hands on her, and muttered something like a hymn or a prayer. I put in my own prayer to Apollo for her to be all right.

You couldn't tell because of the bandage, but Marta's breathing did ease. A medic came and picked her up gently and put her on a stretcher. "It looks like you had it handled, but we'll double check." he said kindly. I nodded, and he left.

Jace looked pale and sweaty. I realized I wasn't much better. I swayed a bit, and the people around me steadied me.

"Go to sleep before you pass out." someone said.

"She's turning really pale."

"Medic!"

"She's swaying."

"Don't let her hit the ground!"

"Too late."

I reeled backwards, my thoughts long gone, being caught by a sea of hands, and the last thing I remember was a medic's worried face looking down at me.


	5. Back in the Infirmary

**I don't own Percy Jackson. Or anything else you recognize from Rick Riordan's books. Really, next you'll be thinking I'm Louisa May Alcott.**

IV

Louisa

Back in the Infirmary

I groaned and looked around. I was in…a hospital? I sat up suddenly, determined to get away from there. I hated hospitals because of… because of… I don't know. Crud, I can't remember.

My sitting up and trying to get away alerted everyone. The beeping machine next to me skyrocketed, and I fought against the strange people trying to push me down.

"Get Percy in here and try to calm her down!" one of them said. I turned my head and saw Alexis sleeping in the next bed and renewed my fight to get away.

They had ahold of my arms and were trying push me back down to the bed by pressing my shoulders, but no one had ahold of my legs. I kicked one doctor in the back of the head and wrenched my arm away from him, and brought my hand down on the other doctor's, who loosened his grip in pain. I fought my way free and bounded out of bed, backing away from them.

My legs were shaking, but I wasn't going to stay in this hospital. "Alexis! Wake up!" I yelled at her. She remained unconscious.

"Louisa, it's ok. You're in the infirmary in Camp Half-Blood." said the one I kicked in the back of the head.

I was breathing hard. How long had I been in this place? Where was Percy and Jace? Who were these people? Camp Half-Blood didn't have heart monitors!

"Where am I and how long have you kept me here?" I demanded.

"You're in Camp Half-Blood. In the infirmary." the one I kicked said.

"Newsflash, buddy, Camp Half-Blood's infirmary doesn't have heart monitors!"

"You've been out for five days." the one I karate-chopped his hand off of me said.

One of the other medics yelled down the hall, "Where the Hades is Percy or someone she recognizes! She's hysterical!"

"I am not hysterical. I'm being reasonable, considering you kidnapped me. It's not fun. I've already been through it once, and I'm fighting my way out this time!" I snapped at the medic that called me hysterical. I groped in the air for the Duat and for my staff. I succeeded in tearing a hole in reality and grabbing my staff. I patted my pockets for my eraser/knife or some other weapon. I found my eraser and pressed the tip. "Back off." I said strongly. "Alexis! Wake up!"

The one I kicked cackled, changing into something grotesque. "She'll never wake up. As will you!" and lunged at me. The medic I karate-chopped looked horrified. I grabbed hold of Alexis and the medic. Suddenly I was ripped from the scene and was screaming as I tumbled through eternal darkness.

* * *

"She's awake!" said a young voice. Shelby? I didn't have the strength to open my eyes.

"Barely." A little older, around Louisa's age. Sadie, perhaps?

"What about her sister?"

"She's been out for five days, both of them. Her boyfriend too. It's like they can't wake up."

"How's Marta?"

"Jaz is tending to her. The flames are crimson. She doesn't expect her to last the night."

"Why did Alexis faint? I can somewhat understand Louisa, but Alexis?"

"She unconsciously used her reserve of Apollo. It looks like she really is a legacy of Apollo, but she would've done better to water-heal."

"She would've passed out anyway, then."

"But she would've gotten more done. And she was absolutely strung out emotionally and extremely tired."

"Why was she strung out?"

"Who knows…"

I faded back to sleep.

The next time I woke up, the two voices were gone. I opened my eyes. I was in a white room with a half-asleep Percy playing with water sitting next to me. I groaned as I sat up, getting Percy's attention instantly. I had a throbbing headache, and I put a hand to my forehead.

"What happened? That guy looked familiar." I said groggily. Percy looked startled.

"What guy?"

Another groan sounded from the other side of the room.

"What the Hades? You're both out for five days and wake up within minutes of each other?" Percy said, bewildered.

"We're just special like that. We were also kind of prisoners. In our dreams." I said, still groggy. I was awake enough though, to know that I sounded ridiculous.

The door burst open. "Jace is awake." a nurse said.

"What the freaking Hades!" Percy said.

"I told you, there was this guy, and he looked familiar, and there were these medics and then the guy I kicked turned into something other than human, and then he said I would never wake up or Alexis or anyone else, and-" I stuttered as I swallowed "and then I grabbed hold of the medic, not the one who called me hysterical, but the one I hit-"

Percy grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "If you don't slow down, _I'm_ going to call you hysterical!"

"But she's right! She grabbed me and a medic, not the one by the door, but the one that was close to me, and then suddenly we were spiraling through empty darkness screaming." Alexis said.

Percy looked between me and Alexis then sat down on a chair. "Ok, so back up and tell the story again slowly."

"Well, I wake up and I'm in a hospital, and I remember that I don't like hospitals, so I sit up and untangle the sheets, determined to get away."

"Then the medics wrestle with her, and she kicks one of them in the back of the head, and karate chops the other so they let go of her wrists and shoulders." Alexis said.

"I got up and backed away; I thought I had been kidnapped again."

"She asked them a couple of questions, but they told her lies."

"I drew my wand and knife," I started, but Alexis finished my sentence.

"She said to back off."

"And they didn't," I started again.

"The medic she kicked turned into a monster of some sort."

"It was blood red." I put in.

"And she grabbed me and the medic that she karate chopped."

"And suddenly I was ripped from the scene and falling through eternal darkness."

Percy's head bounced back and forth through our exchanges. I wondered if he was dizzy by the time we were done. Probably.

"Who do you think it was?" Percy asked.

"It felt old. Like, as old or older than Gaea. Chaos, maybe? That's the father of Gaea and Ouranos." I said uncertainly.

The door opened, and Jace walked in. He had a bruise on his hand. "There's your proof. I karate chopped him right there." I said to Percy, pointing to Jace's hand.

Jace rubbed it absently. "You've got a hard hand."

"I take it you have the same story." Percy said.

"You still think we're mad, don't you?" I said.

"I never said that."

"You were thinking it."

"Anyway, yes. Unless you two are talking about another form of Chaos and not being kidnapped and escaping him, and the latter is supposed to be impossible to do."

"What can I say? I have a gift for the impossible." I said.

"And we're going to need it." he said grimly. I threw back the covers and walked over to Alexis' bed. Jace sat on the edge, and so did I. Alexis propped herself up higher. Percy dragged his chair over.

"We need Joann." Alexis said, catching Percy by surprise. I wasn't surprised, as I was rather thinking along those lines as well.

"She's a lot better than you give her credit for, Percy. And I know you'd like to wring her neck for killing Michael, but she's probably our best fighter. And she really is friends with Alexis. Alexis was _in_ _battle_ with her, but I could see her from a different angle. Joann was hesitating at first, because Alexis was her friend, and that was her downfall. She actually got the better of Alexis once or twice, and it seemed I'd have to go and rescue her a couple times. And you didn't know her personally, Percy. Alexis, Eva and I did." I backed Alexis up.

"Let us try, Percy. Please?" Alexis said.

"You know, they've got a point. I think it's time we take a visit to the Big House." Jace said.

The room held its breath, and Percy finally said, "Ok, let's go."

"Percy?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah?"

"How's Marta?"

I held my breath, hoping that what I heard when I first woke up wouldn't be real.

Percy gave Alexis a long look. "She's in a coma. She's not dead, but I have a feeling that she was prisoner in her dreams too, but unlike you guys, she didn't get away."

"Chaos or whoever is making us prisoners in our dreams, so that we never wake up, and then we can't fight him. And when all of us are prisoners of our dreams, he'll take down the gods." I realized.

"And unlike Kronos or Gaea, there'll be nobody to stop him." Percy finished my thought. His gray streaks in his hair that matched Annabeth's seemed to get bigger before my eyes. All of us looked grim.

"It looks like Eva's cave is back in business." Jace attempted to lighten the mood. I let out a weak chuckle.

**Ok, people. I need some reviews to get me going! I have four reviews. Seriously, I had more in Clashing Tides by this chapter!**

**So, whatcha think? Chaos or some other bad guy?**

**Please review!**


	6. Around in Circles

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

VI

Alexis

Around in Circles

We are now sitting around Eva's cave, with Percy, Louisa, Nico, Eva, Jace, Joann and me. We had been going around in circles for hours and I was close to closing my eyes and sleeping, we'd gone around this so many times.

I shook myself out of my daze, and heard what Percy was saying. "Can the House of Life do anything?"

_Well, we don't know until we ask them. _"Why don't we invite them over and ask them?" Eva snapped. All of us were short-tempered.

_And, we can't do that, because this is another secret meeting._ "This is a secret meeting! We can't invite them here!" Nico said.

_Too cautious._ "Well aren't you the cautious one." Louisa snapped at him.

_Comfort or rebuke from Jace._ "Louisa, he's got a point."

_And then comes the arguing. _"Oh, so now you're backing him and not me?"

"I'm pointing out the truth!"

_And then comes me to break it up._ "Guys! Back on track!" I yelled.

"She's right. Can the House of Life do anything? Blocking Chaos or whatever it is?" Percy asked.

_And now we're back in square one._ "Oh my freaking gods. Instead of going around in circles like we have for the past three hours, focus on a path that will get somewhere!" I yelled, at the end of my rope. "We can start with the 'whatever it is.'"

"Echidna?" Percy suggested.

"Nope. Gaea made her." Joann said, speaking for the first time.

"Nemean Lion?" Jace said.

"No for two reasons. One, it's too stupid and two, it was made by Echidna." I said.

"Kampe?" Louisa asked.

"Assisted Kronos in the first Titan war and in the Battle of the Labyrinth." Percy said.

"Empousia?"

"Nope. Made by Hecate." I said.

"So it has to be Chaos, or one of Gaea's siblings." A voice said at the doorway, scaring us out of our skins. We all whipped around and visibly relaxed when Annabeth was at the doorway. "If you go by some myths, Gaea had many sisters and brothers."

"One myth stated that Kronos was her brother." I remembered.

"But really, Kronos was her son." Annabeth continued, sitting down in between me and Percy.

"Anake, goddess of inevitability, was the daughter of Gaea and was entwined in the serpentine coils of her mate, Kronos. They circled the egg of solid matter and shattered it make earth and the sun and moon and everything else. They brought about creation of the ordered universe." I said.

"Gaea had a brother called Erebus, god of darkness. He was also the father of the Keres, spirits of disease, pestilence, and violent death, Hemera, goddess of the day, and Charon." Nico informed us.

"He also was the father of Aether, god of the upper sky, I think. Thalassa was his daughter, goddess of the sea." I said.

"Nyx was the goddess of night. She was also the mother of Light and Day by the god Erebus. She also gave birth to a host of spirits alone." Annabeth said.

"And that's where Thantos and Hypnos and Lyssa and Eris come from." I said. "The Daimones. There were nine siblings." I said, nodding.

"Well, there's always Tartarus. He's worse than Gaea." Percy said, throwing up his arms. "I'm half-hoping it'll be him and not Chaos." he admitted.

"You're the one that complained that you wanted to come along for a little adventure." I said.

"Catching Joann was different than inviting a war!" Percy argued.

"Hello? I'm right in front of you?" Joann remarked.

"Sorry. But seriously, why would Tartarus start a war with us? And without Gaea, he can't let monsters back into the world as easily."

"But he can reject them." I muttered. "Wait a second. He can reject them! If he doesn't accept them, they get flung back into the human world." I said, after I realized what I said.

"But why would he capture us in our sleep?"

"We are the gods' tools." I reminded him. "If he can reject enough monsters, and capture enough people in their dreams, the monsters will kill the rest of us who are awake, and then storm the camp, and kill the people who are asleep."

"And if the gods' tools break," Annabeth started.

"Then they fall. Tartarus is finishing what Gaea started." I said. "He's getting revenge for forcing his mate into an eternal slumber. That's why all the monster attacks have been more coordinated. Louisa, remember last year?"

"Yeah. Once during the fires and the time we broke the Hoover Dam." she said.

"_You_ guys were the ones who broke the Hoover Dam?" Annabeth yelled at us. Percy and I exchanged panicked looks. Eva looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Annabeth, we controlled the water to extinguish the flames so that the fires wouldn't become an international problem. And besides, we wouldn't be here if we hadn't broken the Hoover Dam." Louisa said.

"I think you're the only one who didn't know, Annabeth." Eva said, still trying not to laugh. "They told us at the story session last year."

Annabeth's gray eyes stared us down, and Percy, Louisa and I all gulped.

Eva and Nico busted out laughing. I glared at them. Joann was laughing so hard tears were running down her face. Someone made her tears fly up and poke her face until she stopped laughing. I leaned over to look at Louisa, and she gave me a sly grin. I shook my head. That girl was going to get in trouble.

**Oh my gods, you would not believe how many red squiggly lines I have on this chapter because of all the weird names. At the very least forty of them.**

**By the way, how bad can they screw up a movie? Well, let's see.**

***Annabeth has brown hair and blue eyes, and she still didn't really like Percy by the end of the book, so that movie completely messed her up.**

***Grover is black. It specifically says that grover is light-skinned with like a light brown or blond hair. No offense to anyone intended.**

***Clarisse is blond, and I just about died laughing at that simple statement. Clarisse, blond?**

***Beckendorf, who will show up in the Sea of Monsters, is _supposed_ to be black, but isn't. What's with changing up the skin colors and hair colors? Seriously?**

**Anyway, I'm done with my rant. Please review!**


	7. Pasts

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

VII

Louisa

Pasts

Well, so far Joann hasn't made any move to get away, despite being free of bonds. But I did enjoy doing that. Alexis was just like, 'Oh my gods.' and shaking her head.

We were tentatively letting her stay in the Zeus cabin. The harpies were still on the look out for campers who snuck out after curfew, so it would be kind of heard for her to sneak out easily.

Nothing really happened until that night, when I heard Alexis sneak out.

I knew it must've had something to do with Joann, so of course I followed her.

I found her by the sea, strumming her guitar softly. Alexis didn't see her, but I did.

"You want to know how I ended up with Luke?" Joann asked Alexis.

Alexis continued strumming her guitar, but now it had a sad note to it. "I can guess."

"What is it?"

"First you were tricked. Kronos probably promised you power. And then when you saw it was fake and wanted to back out, he threatened to kill me, your future friend, Eva, and Louisa." my sister said calmly.

I wanted to laugh at Joann's face. "How—?"

"I had dreams of Luke and Kronos discussing you for weeks when I was six. I didn't know why, and each time I woke up screaming." Alexis said, still strumming that guitar. It held a note of danger in it now, and a lot of sadness.

"And you think you are a disappointment because you didn't die for your friends."

Joann's face was priceless, but what they were talking about wasn't funny at all.

"But you aren't. As soon as Kronos was dead, you tried to find me, and when you did I thought you were crazy when that monster attacked. You then turned to Gaea because I hurt you for—I don't know, a week?"

"The worst week of my life." I heard Joann mutter.

"You fought against her. You turned, and that takes courage. You tried to follow your own path, not the one that others laid out for you." Alexis said softly.

I could see the glint of tears on Joann's face. She hastily wiped them away.

"The attempt is futile. I know water when I sense it." Alexis said, warmth in her voice. Joann chuckled a bit.

"Courage? I turned because Luke promised me power." Joann said.

"And you plotted against him. You helped in the war. You knew where his forces were stationed, where we were weakest. You saved several Camp Half-Blood soldiers." Alexis turned around, and in the moonlight I could see tears on her face too. "Without you, the Stoll brothers wouldn't be here today."

I just about had a coronary.

"They hide behind a thin veil of mischief because you were the shadow that passed in front of them and protected them from death and sliced the monster in half before it could kill them. They're shaken because they came so close to death, and a traitor helped them." Alexis said forcefully. "You may have been forced to kill Michael Yew, but you saved more than you killed in that war."

"How do you know all this?"

"I'm a legacy of Apollo." Alexis said softly. "I know more about the Titan war than the people who were in it. The people who suffered or died in the Giant war. The war on Mount Tam when the Romans invaded it. Random people's backstories. Half the time I don't even try. And people wonder how my eyes can be so bright colored but so dark. Knowing the past isn't a gift, its a curse. Shoot, I know more than Louisa does about her own life, and I can't tell her because they're gone for a reason."

_I'm not sure I want to know anyway_. I thought.

There was a long pause. Alexis had turned around again so she was staring out to sea and strumming her guitar. The tune was frantically paced, and had the feeling of danger and loss.

_Fighting for life  
__Fighting for hope.  
__Fighting for friends  
__Fighting the enemy-y…_

_But in the midst  
__Is a traitor, a liar  
__A killer, a friend._

_And in the midst  
__Of a war long gone  
__She stands still strong  
__And fights to the end_

_We fight for life  
__We fight for hope.  
__We fight for friends  
__We fight the enemy-y…_

Alexis continued to strum after the song was ended, and I had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the Titan or Giant Wars.

She was singing about my past.

**Ok, listen up people! I will not update until I get twelve or over reviews. By now I should be up to like twenty and I only have eight. Multiple reviews by the same person is ok.**

**Also, all these songs in this book are BY ME. I did not, I repeat, DID NOT copy these from some other song. These are purely BY ME. Period. End of story.**

**Review, people! And yes, I purposely did it on a cliffhanger, so the faster you review the faster you find out what Louisa's past truly is.**

**By the way, I am doing this with someone else, so it will be a bit different, that's why all the songs are in there, because 1) they fit and 2) I like writing songs.**

**Ok, now, ready, set, REVIEW!**


	8. Memories

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

VIII

Louisa

Memories and Pain

As soon as I realized that, it was like my memories were hovering around my head and slammed into place. Well, some of them, not all of them.

I put a hand to my forehead and staggered backward a bit. Not enough to go into the beach, just enough to stay in the trees and may be seen.

It was hard to think with all the flashbacks. I dare you to finish a comprehensible sentence in your head while being interrupted by other things.

_Makenna._ I remembered. _She had-_

I was thrust into the midst of fighting. I was short, but I used that to my advantage and sliced a monster in half. The monster never saw me.

Someone pressed their back up to mine. "You ready?"

"Set." I said. "May be the last time we say this, but if it is, let's go down fighting."

"Ditto."

We passed fourteen-year-old Jason, who was battling Titan Krios hand-to-hand. The Third Cohort was in turtle formation and spearing anyone who got in their way.

I heard a scream of pain behind me, and I saw Makenna collapse, clutching her side.

"_No_!" I screamed. I didn't think. I unleashed a blast of sharp air that sliced every monster in half for an eight-foot radius. I knelt by Makenna.

"Keep going." she rasped out. "Just because I went down fighting doesn't mean you can. Stay strong."

"Makenna! No, don't do this!" I yelled at her, fumbling for my ambrosia.

"Promise me. You'll fight to the end."

"I-I promise. I swear on the River Styx." I said. "Now eat this." I tried to feed her the ambrosia, but she blocked my hand with hers.

"Go, Louisa. I'll see you in Elysium. Remember your promise." Makenna said.

"Makenna, if you die, I will find someway to bring you back and then kill you very painfully." I threatened. "So eat this!" I gave her the ambrosia, but her hand was slack on my arm. Her eyes were closed. "_Makenna_!" I yelled.

I got up and looked at my friend's body. "I won't do it because of the River Styx. I'll do it for you."

The rest of the night was a blur. We defeated the Titan's army, and Jason slew the Titan Krios.

I was slammed back into reality, but only for a moment.

_Mom. She died fighting a drakon when I was three. I came to Camp Jupiter when I was four. Bobby. Dakota. Jason. Gwen. Stupid Octavian._

I was plunged into the past again.

Two hundred heavily armed kids stood before four-year-old me.

"Do you have letters of recommendation?" Praetor Mark asked me. I shook my head, confused.

_Letters._ "Paper?" I asked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a rather rumpled piece of paper.

Praetor Mark opened it, skimmed it over. "So. Marie's daughter. She was a good fighter." he said. "Will anyone stand for the girl?"

There was a lot of shouting, and finally I was put into the Fifth Cohort as a draw.

"Welcome to the Fifth Cohort." A boy about nine said. He had blond hair and sky-blue eyes. "My name's Jason. What's yours?"

"Louisa." I said in a small voice.

I was jerked out of that memory, only to be plunged into another.

I looked like I was still four, but it was probably six months later or something.

"Come on, attack me." Jason coaxed.

Younger-me trembled. I had a simple dagger in my hand. "B-but wouldn't I hurt you?"

"You won't hurt me." he said gently. "Now, come on, attack me."

"But you're my brother, Jay."

"Come on. Or _I'll_ attack _you_!" he said, grinning. He dropped his sword and ran toward me, tickling my sides until I cried.

"Stop, Jay!" I cried. "Stop!" Jason let go and said, "Now will you attack me?"

I nodded.

Jason got into a fighting stance. He and younger-me clashed, and we went back and forth. Of course he won, but it took a little time.

"You've gotten better, Squirt." he said, ruffling my hair and using my nickname.

I surfaced into reality again, and ran to my cabin, making a lot of noise, but I didn't care. I came from the Roman camp. Oh my gods, I came from the Roman camp. I was there, on Mount Tam, when I was seven.

I looked at my arm. I wiped away the Mist, and I had the marks.

The marks of a Roman.

Oh, gods, how on earth was I going to explain this?

**So. If you say you saw that coming, I will not believe you.**

**Thank you, bhz, irishpixie823, Lunabear, and two Guests for reviewing!**

**So, how do you think Jason's going to react when he sees her for the first time in nine years?**

**Can you guys make it to seventeen?**

**Please review!**


	9. Riddles

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

IX

Alexis

Riddles

I didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

Turns out that Louisa didn't either. She was still awake at three o'clock in the morning when I got out my guitar again and strummed the strings. I was going to begin another song, but Louisa mumbled from her bunk, "Please don't."

I looked up, startled. "Please don't what?"

She flipped over on to her other side to look at me. "Sing another song."

I didn't ask why. If you're going like, _Why on earth and Hades not?_, well, here's the answer.

Her eyes were a dark turquoise, which they never turned unless she was really, really, mad or if she was about to cry. And I think she was the latter.

Louisa's cheeks were sunken and hollow, and even her voice had a different lilt to it.

Some random piece of information from Louisa's past fluttered like a butterfly in my mind, but I ignored it for the time being.

_And in the midst  
__Of a war long gone  
__She stands still strong  
__And fights to the end._

I slowly clicked the pieces together. _Of a war long gone_. The Titan War, perhaps? The Giant War wasn't that long ago.

_She stands still strong_. Why wouldn't someone stand strong…unless someone close to them dies in the middle of the Titan War.

_And fights to the end_. Maybe that same person made her swear that she would fight to the end, whether it be the war or until her death.

_We fight for life._ During a war, you generally try to keep your life anchored to your body.

_We fight for hope._ Percy mentioned something about Pandora's _pithos_. Hope was the last thing in there.

_We fight for friends._ Knowing Louisa, she wouldn't care about the River Styx, but she would do it if it was her friend's last request. We also fight for friends that can't fight for themselves.

There's something seriously wrong with having to figure out my own riddles.

"You were there." I said slowly. "At Mount Tam. You saw someone die right before your eyes, and honored her request to _fight to the end_. You _stood strong_ until the end of the war. The Titan war was _the war long gone_ and you were _in the midst_ of it. You're a Roman." I figured it out. "You were spying on me and Joann, and when you heard that song, some of your memories came flooding back to you, and I wasn't even realizing that I was singing about your past too, not just hers."

Louisa nodded. She held out her forearm, and on it were the marks of a Roman.

Oh gods, how are we going to explain this to Percy and Chiron?

I buried my head in my hands.

**Ok, short, but needed.**

**How do you think they'll explain to Jace that his girlfriend really _is_ a Roman, not just by blood but by training, too?**

**Although I have to agree with Alexis. Having to figure out your own riddle is seriously wrong.**

**Make it to 24 reviews and I'll update!**

**Review! Please?**


	10. Stuffing and Swords

**I don't own PJO or KC. Period. End of story. No questions asked.**

X

Louisa

Stuffing and swords

After dawn came, I went down to the arena and decided to skewer some dummies to get my frustration out.

_Slash, duck, slash, roll._

I remembered Jason teaching me how to fight Roman. Romans weren't like Greeks; they fought in teams, cohorts, trios, or duos.

_Stab, roll, thrust, twist._

Romans didn't slash to cause panic; they just killed the enemy, no questions asked. But if you did a mixture to the two, it could be deadly.

_Stab, duck, slash, lock and twist._

I was now on my fourth dummy.

_Stab, slash-_

_Clang._

I turned on my attacker and instantly went all-out Roman. He defended, and I could tell he was having a hard time. I defeated him easily, and stopped from killing him when I saw his face clearly.

"Oops. Sorry, Percy." I said, and then helped him up.

"How did you learn to fight like a Roman?" he panted.

I showed him the inside of my forearm. "Because I am one." I said bluntly, and then went back to thrashing the dummies.

He stopped me again with a _clang_, and I turned, grabbed my knife with both hands, and hit his sword so hard it _clang_ed out of his hand.

"Don't, Percy. I'm mad right now, and I don't know what I'll do if you get in my way." I told him levelly. I went back to stabbing the dummies.

"Well, you could at least give me some information." he said, exasperated. "And not just leave me hanging like that."

"I arrived young, much like Jason did. I was four. My mother died fighting a drakon when I was three." I started.

_Stab, roll, thrust, twist._

"I had letters of recognition, and everyone was fighting over me and I got put into the Fifth Cohort as a draw." I continued.

_Slash, duck, slash, roll._

"Jason was the first one to greet me, and he taught me how to fight and use my dagger. Marie gave the dagger to me before she died, I guess."

_Stab, duck, slash, lock and twist._

"I was on Mount Tam during the Titan war. Makenna was there too. She was stabbed and made me swear on the River Styx that I would keep going and fight to the end." My voice caught a little towards the end of that sentence.

I threw my dagger and it impaled the last dummy in the head right between the eyeholes.

"And it isn't the end yet. For some reason, Joann, Alexis, Jace, and I are all tied into this. And I can't give up because of my friend's dying request."

I shot a burst of air at the dummy I impaled with my dagger, and its head flew clean off. I made a motion with my hand like tugging a dagger out of a helmet, and the winds responded to my will. They got the dagger out of the helmet, and I proceeded to fight long-distance.

"Then I'm plopped into a new life, Nico di Angelo as my guide, and I know nothing but my first name. Nico di Angelo is my cousin, you're my brother, and Eva, Joann, and Thalia are like my once-removed sisters."

I sliced through a dummy that's already been torn up with my dagger, but I didn't feel like getting new ones out.

"Then Alexis is singing a song and I get like half my memories back in two minutes, which, believe me, doesn't feel so good." I said bitterly.

I sliced through four more dummies, cutting them all in half.

"Now I'm _literally_ a Roman, and I'm trying to explain this without killing anybody or breaking, into tears, out of sanity, or running out of patience."

I gave one dummy a haircut, because straw was hanging out everywhere. I just cut the loose ends.

"The now-praetor great Jason Grace was my trainer, brother, partner, and friend for three years before I disappeared off the face of the earth. He probably searched for me, to no avail, and I'm wondering how he didn't see me at last year's meeting."

I stabbed the final dummy in so many places it looked like a piece of Swiss cheese when I got done with it.

"And you-" I threw my dagger at a random dummy. "I'm hoping I will not kill because of my upbringing and instincts, and because of your rash deeds. Such as stopping me when I'm mad and lethal." I turned around and looked at him. He looked a bit, uh, stunned. Like someone just smacked him between the eyes for no apparent reason. "I don't know who I am anymore, I'm just as lost and confused as I was on my first day here, and pretty much all I know is that I'm dangerous. And I can't even tell you how or why."

Percy didn't say anything, and I wasn't sure if it was too much for him to take in or if he was just afraid of being skewered.

I bent the winds to my will and grabbed my dagger, strapped it to my belt, and walked out of the arena, leaving Kelp Head to his thoughts.

**Ok! That done. You gotta admit, that was a little exciting.**

**Hey people, I just read this story called Terminal by HecateA. Really sad, but really good. I don't cry in stories, but I cried in this one. Nico/OC. Set just before Christmas.**

**Also, since you guys are all awesome for reviewing, even though you didn't make the goal last time, two virtual cookies for everyone! (::) (::)**

**No minimum, but please do review!**


	11. I Told

**I don't own PJO or KC. Period.**

XI

Alexis

"I Told…"

I saw Louisa walking from the arena, and I hurried towards it, hoping she hadn't murdered anyone. It would be kind of hard to explain to Chiron why there's a dead body on the floor of the arena.

When I walked in there, I wasn't expecting for Percy to be standing there with his sword on the ground, not moving, not blinking, not even breathing.

I was also not expecting for eight dummies to be thoroughly disemboweled. Stuffing coming out, armor in rags, holes in helmets.

I walked over to Percy and poked him in the shoulder, to see if he'd wake up or fall down and _then_ wake up.

"I take it Louisa told you?" I asked gently. Percy almost never looked like you needed to be gentle with him, but right now he looked like very thin glass. Tap it the wrong way and it shatters. You don't need to drop it.

I looked at his sword on the ground and the disemboweled dummies and quickly connected the dots. "You tried to stop her from destroying the row and she knocked the sword out of your hand. While she demolished the row she told you what she knew."

He nodded. I huffed. "That wasn't a question, Kelp Head. That was a statement."

Percy looked at me, confused. "I just realized that both your sisters have either really complicated pasts or really weird powers or both." I sighed. I walked over and started cleaning up the dummies. "You might want to sit down while I tell you this." I warned.

As I picked up pieces of armor and stray stuffing, I told him about my past. I told him about the fire and Joann.

I threw everything into the pile in the corner where every year, the Hephaestus cabin repairs the armor and then everyone else stuffs the dummies.

I told him about how Louisa was spying on me and Joann, and my song. I told him the riddles and the answers and how I wasn't even trying to.

I grunted as I pulled the worn dummies out of the ground and threw them on the pile.

I finally told him about the three o'clock talk. "And I assume you know the rest." I said.

I stuck new dummies into the holes.

Percy shook his head like he was just coming out of a trance or zoning-out.

I picked up his sword and handed it to him. "So now what? We contact Jason and let him know we have his long-lost sister?" Percy asked me.

"No. We can't get their hopes up for nothing. We're close to being in another war, and none of us may survive this. We just have to let Louisa's memories come back." I said. "Although I may help those memories come back a bit faster…" I grinned wickedly. Percy shook his head, amused.

Percy fiddled with one of his beads; the Titan War one, with the Empire State Building and a bunch of names written in Ancient Greek. "Everything seems to go back to that." he muttered.

He had a trident with a black background, a picture of the Golden Fleece, a maze, the Titan War one, and several others. He had the Egyptian symbol for Home and a flaming tree, the two that I had, and assuming I survived this summer, I would get another bead.

That is _assuming_ that I survived, and at the rate we were going, I was probably going to die of all the drama if the monsters didn't get me first.

"Is it just me, or is it too quiet?" I asked him suddenly.

"You mean literally or monster-wise?"

"Monster-wise." I answered. He nodded slowly, thinking a bit.

"You're right. It is a little too quiet." he agreed.

"Why would Tartarus stop? He has the advantage of surprise."

"Well, we could go do a scout-out."

"Better than anything I've gotten." I agreed.

**Ok! As of tomorrow, I start school again! Then my updates will slow to once or twice a week. Somewhere in there unless it's a really slow time.**

**Can you guys get to 27 reviews?**

**Ready? Set? REVIEW!**


	12. Sleeptalking and Songs

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XII

Louisa

Sleep Talking and Songs

I honestly think that Percy could replace Rachel as Oracle, just based on the amount of dreams he has.

Or maybe him for Prometheus and Alexis for Epimetheus, Titans of afterthought and forethought, or future and past. Like the ghosts of Christmas future and past.

I'm sitting there, at midnight 'cause I can't sleep, when Percy mumbles, "Oh my freaking gods, I didn't help Kronos, I wasn't Gaea's pawn like she wanted, and do you think I'll help _you_? Think again!"

To which it made me laugh a little. Percy was definitely something else, a major talent for ticking off any immortal being he meets, including our dad sometimes.

But what he said next caught my attention.

"Your barriers aren't totally foolproof. My sisters got out."

"Are you listening to this, too, Louisa?" Alexis hissed at me from her bunk, with a bit of suppressed laughter.

"Yeah, I'm listening." I said.

It was just light enough that you could see Percy's face straining. "I won't help you!" he yelled, startling me into almost falling out of bed, and then he sat up like he'd been shot, gasping. He looked around, and saw me and Louisa staring at him. "Do I really talk in my sleep?" he groaned, which made me laugh again. Maybe it was the stretched-to-the-limit nerves, or maybe it was that I hadn't slept in two nights, but I burst out laughing, and Alexis joined me.

"Talk? More like yell. You make comical expressions too." I said as the laughing fit tapered off. I grew serious as I asked the most important question. "Tartarus asking for your help?"

Percy nodded.

"Shouldn't he know better by now after his son and then his wife trying to recruit you and not get anywhere?" I asked.

Percy shrugged.

"Can you talk?" I asked.

"Of course I can!" Percy said indignantly.

"Ok, then." I said.

Percy told us his dream. Afterwards there was a very long silence.

"So Tartarus isn't going to stop for nothing." I said quietly. "Did he hint at any weaknesses?"

"Why would he do that?" Percy asked. Alexis looked at me as if I'd grown two heads.

"Before he found you out, he was talking to someone else. A demon, probably, based on that sand-over-stone voice, an Egyptian demon. Did he say anything that he was afraid of?"

Percy hesitated. "'Only the three together can prevent my full arise,' he said, but I have no clue what that means. The Brooklyn House and the two camps?" he said uncertainly.

I could tell Alexis was thinking hard. "Or maybe three special people?" she said.

"I'm seriously starting to believe you could replace Rachel as Oracle." I muttered.

"Well, we can't figure this out unless we get some sleep." Alexis reasoned, looking at me.

"Right now I don't need sleep." I said firmly.

"If you don't try right now, I will _sing_ you to sleep, and if that doesn't work, I'll hire the Stoll brothers to get me anesthesia from the Apollo cabin and shoot you with it." she threatened.

"Just so you know, I'm allergic to most common anesthesia's." I said dryly.

"Go to sleep!" she yelled at me. "I'll have the Apollo cabin treat you when you wake up!"

We heard a muffled laugh from the bump on the bed called Percy.

"Oh, shut up!" we yelled at him simultaneously, which of course caused him to laugh even harder. He laughed so hard he snorted.

"It was not that funny!" I said. He snored away. I rolled my eyes and lay down.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard Alexis strum her guitar. I groaned inwardly. I _do not_ need another dozen flashbacks.

She started singing, slow and mellow.

_Figh-ting to sa-ave  
Figh-ting for ho-ope  
Fighting and survi-ving_

_A path of hard-ship  
A path of pain…_

I remembered when Lupa found me, three years old, and cared for me as a new-born pup, but one that will be tough.

I remembered fighting to save Bobby when he did something stupid and put some of the blame on me, even though I had no idea what he did. Even though we got to scrub the streets of New Rome with a toothbrush. It was better than being thrown into the Tiber with a bunch of angry weasels.

I remembered when I was stabbed at severely and didn't realize it until the end of the war games, and then my body was wracked with pain.

_A new day,  
A new light  
A new set of choi-ces_

I remembered when Bobby and I got up when the gray fingers of dawn started show, just to prove that we could get up early if we wanted to.

I remembered that choice I had to make between forcing my friend into eating the ambrosia and honoring her wish.

I remembered Jason's speech right before we stormed Mount Tam, that we were one, and not just five cohorts, and nothing could separate us, and his eyes, which were glinting with determination to get the legion to listen to him, and with apprehension and fear of his own insane plan. He made his choice to stand up in Senate to make the legion storm Mount Tam before they could storm New Rome and Camp Jupiter.

_Constant as the stars  
Steady as a moun-tain  
Supporting as a friend_

I still didn't remember much, but I could remember there was a small gang of us from each of the cohorts. We all leaned on each other and we steadied the others around us. When Makenna died, it almost fell apart, since she was the only one from the Fourth Cohort.

"Alexis?" I said.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"If you want me to go to sleep, sing something that isn't relevant to my past. If anything it's keeping me up." I said gently.

She complied, and she sung about dancing in the moonlight. I drifted off to sleep.

I was quite rudely woken up with a bucket of ice water to my head.

**Ok! I am now officially back in school. The first week of school is so boring it isn't funny. I almost fell asleep in fourth period!**

**And I was kind of wondering where you were, Gaia was Framed. You've reviewed without fail the last two books, and thank you for that, so I was like, 'uh...did I do something she doesn't like?' Welcome back!**

**I know it's a bit early, but I had two different plots for the fourth book battling in my mind for awhile, so I posted them on my profile and I would like to see what you think please!**

**Please review!**

**By the way, who do ou think dumped ice water on her?**


	13. Five Sleeping and a Bunch of Awkwardness

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XIII

Louisa

Five Sleeping and a Bunch of Awkwardness

"Oh my freaking gods, Zia! Was that _necessary_?!" I yelled at her. I willed the rest of the water off me and threw it at her, making her soaking wet instead of me. "Not the best thing you could've done to a daughter of Poseidon!" I said, a little more calmly.

Zia looked irritated. "What would you like me to do? Throw fireballs at you?"

"At least them you wouldn't get soaked, and I can use my powers to douse them!"

"Ok! I'll do that the next time no one can wake you up! I thought you'd like to know that we were worried because five people can't wake up!" she retorted.

I froze, and looked for Percy and Alexis. They were pale. "Who?" I asked urgently, getting out of bed rapidly and pulling on some jeans under my nightgown. I went behind a curtain and changed into the Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. "Who!?" I yelled at all of them.

I thought rapidly. If Jace, Alexis, and I were able to get free, they had to be able to get free also. We were in the same building. Not in the same rooms, but in the same building. What was that quote? 'Stay strong, and stick together?' I slowly clicked some pieces together.

"Katie, Tesla, Lou Ellen, Rhonda, and…" Zia trailed off, looking at me worriedly.

"Jace." I said flatly. Zia nodded once. "Jace has been captured before, and he got out of it. He'll most likely b fine." I said, trying to convince myself more than the others. "But, I figured out some things. If we could move them all to the same room, they'd be together and stay strong longer, maybe even find a way out." I explained what I figured out to them.

"What are we waiting for? We need to move these people to one room!" Percy said, leaping into action like the reckless hero he is.

* * *

After we moved them all to one room, the whole of camp (including Chiron and Mr. D) waited tensely.

Alexis, always having to keep her hands busy, had been drawing something, but apparently didn't like it, as she ripped it up and tossed it over her shoulder. She did that three more times before she gave up and went to her real talent: music.

She strummed her guitar, and the whole of the Apollo cabin followed her lead, taking out whatever instrument they had.

Alexis kept strumming, looking thoughtful. I suddenly wished electronics were allowed for demigods because she looked really pretty when she did that.

I couldn't help but notice that the cabins with the sleeping members were all here, and then some close friends of them.

_Ne-ver alone…  
Ne-ver for-got-ten._

Nala started playing her oboe. Someone else played another guitar.

_Stick together, staying strong,  
Believing with our heart  
That this crazy ride  
they call life  
Will end all right_

Several were swaying or tapping there foot to the beat. Forrest, the nine-year-old that he was, was excellent at the drums, and banged to the beat.

_But now we're so close  
To losing our own_

_And we can't take this an-ny lon-ger!_

A lot of shaking heads.

_We're going on a hunch  
To hope and pray  
They'll be all right_

_So we're hoping  
Praying  
Wishing  
Pleading  
With all our hearts_

Everyone joined in, knowing what the next line was, with the exception of Chiron, Mr. D, and the six sleeping people, including Marta, who hadn't woken up.

_For you to wake up!_

Several added to the end of that line, "already, darn it!", causing some laughs of agreement.

Alexis continued for half an hour, getting everyone to join in, keeping it simple, and keeping everyone's spirits up.

I gripped Jace's arm with my hand. I gave him some of my power and energy, for him to keep going, what ever he's doing.

Lou Ellen's cabin was looking like the Stoll brothers when they're bored, only the Hecate cabin was mad. I saw Adien's finger light up for a second with fire. Leo must have a lot of fun with these guys.

Well, when he wasn't caring for his sister, who was also a fire user with a very weird heritage. Alexis and I were among the four who knew her secret. Leo and Hephaestus were the other two who knew.

The Demeter cabin was glaring at their fallen cabin mate, silently willing her to wake. Her distraught brother was crying. We had rescued them from their burning house, and their parents hadn't made it. They'd had another home here, but a much more dangerous one.

I vaguely remembered Rhonda as the one who screeched the camp awake when Tesla first arrived. The Hermes cabin surrounded her bed. The Stoll brothers looked unusually solemn.

Jace's face was a mask of anger suddenly. I didn't think, and transferred everything I had to him. _You had better escape. You don't, and I'll come after you. I didn't drain myself for you for nothing, you hear me, Jace?_ I yelled at him mentally. I prayed to every god and goddess I knew, which was drastically improved since I came to camp-either one of them. _If I have to come after you and the others, it will not be pretty afterwards. I will chop that whole place to pieces if I have to, so you _will_ wake up and escape!_

I leaned forward, which was a mistake, because he sat up suddenly and cracked his head against mine. Five other groans followed, and the room erupted into cheers.

"You make very dire threats, you know that?" Jace said to me, rubbing his forehead.

"I don't really care. You scare me like that again, I will kill you very painfully." I said in my most threatening voice.

"See!" he said

I propped myself up on the bed, drained and exhausted suddenly.

"Hey, you transferred a lot-uh, what's that?" he cut himself off, staring at my arm. "Aren't those-"

_Crud._ I cursed myself mentally. "The marks of a Roman." I said, nodding. "My mind was wiped before I came here, and I just started to remember again." I said reluctantly.

"Oh-kay." he said awkwardly. I winced inwardly. "Anyway, you transferred a lot of power. You need to lay down."

"I'm fine." I said stubbornly.

"No, you're not." he said just as stubbornly.

"Jace! As glad as I am that you're not kidnapped in your dreams now, I'm really close to killing you just to shut you up!" I said, exasperated.

"What's with all the killing stuff, or particularly me?" he asked.

"I was trying to keep things light!" I said, going on the defensive.

"Despite how dire and awkward our situation is." he muttered to himself. He probably didn't mean for me to hear, but I did.

I got up and walked away, towards Tesla.

I wish I'd known that that was the last time I'd see him for a very long time.

**Ok!**

**I know, not one of my better songs, but I managed to get this chapter done before the weekend was up!**

**39 reviews in 13 chapters! You guys are absolutely awesome! Two virtual cookies! (::) (::)**

**Just in case you guys were wondering, my first two days of ninth grade were absolutely BORING. For some reason I thought it would be a little more fun than eighth and seveth grade, but no-o-o-o-o, if anything it's even MORE boring. Ah, well, it may get better tomorrow!**

**Question of the chapter: What would nectar taste like to you guys? For me, garlic pizza!**


	14. Thinking and Sleeping

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XIV

Louisa

Thinking and Sleeping

I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_July fifteenth._

I counted how many knots were in one plank. _One, two, three…four, five six._

_July fifteenth._

It had been exactly three years since I came to camp. _One, two, three…four, five, six._

Three years since I'd been kidnapped and been subject of a prophecy. Three years since I'd come to Camp Half-Blood.

And almost nine since I'd left Camp Jupiter.

Two years since the Colorado fires.

Two years since I'd had that freaky merging with the Egyptian goddess Nepthys.

And almost eight since the Titan war.

Three years since I'd left my 'mother' for good. Three years since I'd left my school because a hydra was hiding in the bleachers. Three years since I'd met Percy. Three years since my life had turned upside down (again). Three years. I'd _survived_ for three more years. Against all the monsters, prophecies, betrayers, kidnappings, and all the other minor odds, I'd survived to almost sixteen.

The same age Percy had given Luke the knife. The same age Annabeth battled Kronos scythe against knife. The same age Percy gave up immortality for Annabeth, watched his friends die because of the war, and made the gods pay more attention to their children so the Kronos-rising thing wouldn't happen again. The same age Percy and Jason were switched by Juno. Hera. Whatever.

Why does it always have to be sixteen?

Tartarus is growing stronger, and soon he'd be able to let the worst monsters out. More of us would never wake up. This camp would eventually fall if we didn't do something. And it had to be soon.

I suddenly realized that I had silent tears running down my face.

If Percy and Thalia were anything to go by, maybe Joann can be thrown in with that lot, the worst decisions always rest with the children of the Big Three. One you die, one you live. One the world explodes, one you save it. One you turn to save your friends, one you don't and kill them. And then me. What choice will I have to make? Will Alexis have to help me like the other six had to help Percy? Will Tartarus actually be able to bring the gods down? Will he be able to annihilate the camp? What will happen then? What if someone can actually be able to go in and bust the others out? Where is the 'dream kidnapping' taking place? Can we shut it down? Blow it up? Do something to it to wipe it off the face of the earth?

Jeez, I have _way_ more questions than answers.

* * *

The rest of my day was fine, until I fell asleep, of course.

I 'woke up' in the infirmary again, but not Camp Half-Blood's. The red thing that attacked me last time was there at the foot of my bed.

I scrambled out of bed and summoned my staff and knife, turning towards the thing and keeping one eye on the door. "Either you are a _really_ ugly but half-way decently intelligent monster, or you are the _really_ ugly but half-way decently intelligent Tartarus. I'm hoping for the former, but going for the latter."

The thing chuckled, sounding like rocks being ground together and then burned into lava. In other words, sinister. It hissed, "I have taken your camp hostage, and my minions attack at the world above's dawn." The thing, which I know deducted was Tartarus, leaned in, and I caught a whiff of foul-smelling breath. "_You have no chanccce._" Tartarus got too close for comfort, and I cut his form's head off. It melted into sand, and the same red wisp floated up and disappeared, the same from which Alexis told me about from the other Egyptian demon.

I gripped my knife and staff, and checked the door. Locked. I backed up and rammed my shoulder into it. It splintered. I did it again, and it shattered into a million pieces.

I guess my first loud _bang_ alerted every monster, demon, and other threats that I was trying to break out, because I was faced with over a hundred monsters. A hundred and fifty to one. I tightened my grip on my knife and staff, and prepared for their charge.

They didn't disappoint.

My hour and a half of training from the Brooklyn House didn't do much, but did you know that ivory staffs make excellent baseball bats? What I didn't dissipate with my knife, I gave a serious headache to them, and _then_ made them explode into dust or sand. They, apparently, didn't really learn much over thousands of years on how to try to kill a half-blood or a magician. Only one monster really gave me some trouble, but when a monster from my opposite side lunged at me, I ducked, and it rammed right into it, killing it instantly, and then I killed that monster.

I heard a _bang_ from a door that I passed, and I kicked at it with all my strength, and it shattered. Another half-blood, probably a newbie since I didn't recognize him, joined the fight. We freed several other half-bloods after we finished off the last monster. None of them I really recognized, but apparently one recognized me. "Louisa?" she gasped. "Is that you?"

I blinked. "_Gwen?_" I asked incredulously.

Gwen tackled me, and I hit my head hard on the floor, and the other three half-bloods from one of the camps raised an eyebrow.

"You know, Gwen, you make it kind of hard to breathe when you're squeezing the life out of me." I choked out. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you guys sooner." I said after she got off of me.

"Where have you been!" she yelled at me.

"Gwen, we are on hostile grounds, and I promise you, you can berate me after we get out of here, but we have to get out of here first." I said firmly with my hand over her mouth. "My camp is in danger, and according to Tartarus, all of them are sleeping, and we have to get out of here before dawn, and before my camp is blown to smithereens. Got it? I will explain after we get out of here, and I am truly sorry that I caused all of you to worry, but we have to get out of here _right now_, and free as many people as possible." I turned to the other three. "We have to work together. If we fight right now, we will never get out of here alive. I'm assuming you are from Camp Jupiter since I don't recognize any of you except Gwen, so work together." I took my hand off of Gwen's mouth. "I'll scout ahead and tell you guys if it's alright to keep going or when you need to fight."

I seriously hoped that Tartarus was just exaggerating and it was only _most_ of the camp and not _all_ of the camp.

**Ok! Thank you guys _so much_ for being patient with me for the last week!**

**I didn't really want to do a Mark of Athena, but I _did_ have an idea pop into my head, and I did a oneshot featuring the reunion of Percy and Annabeth. May turn into a twoshot. Not sure yet. I was pretty surprised at the amount of feedback I got, however. 10 reviews for one chapter! Jeez!**

**If you do not care to read about my first week of school, do not read below:**

**Well, most of my teachers are nice, but my (insert my state here) Studies teacher is so boring, I kept nodding off, and I don't fall asleep in class. I never have, but I came pretty close to it. Gym is fun, but I keep taking tumbles to the floor, which seriously takes skill to turn a fall into a backwards somersault and come up kneeling and run to safe ground. Did exactly that Thursday. I have numerous scrapes and bumps from that class...**

**You know how I absolutely hate English because I can never get anything straight, like the present-perfect pronouns, the indirect objects, and all that junk? Well, I think I may like this year, because my English teacher is a PJO fan! Woo-hoo!**

**I'm taking Spanish, which is easy since I'm half-way decently fluent in the language. We haven't even really started to learn Spanish, just what countries speak Spanish, where they are, and what their national animal and sport is.**

**I'm also kind of shocked that I had _four tests_ on Friday. It's the first full week! Jeez!**

**Unfortunatly, a bully that I hoped would leave is still here at my school, and he said so****mething really, really stupid to me (as in, it's really, really stupid to bring that topic up), and I snapped and told him to go die in a hole. He kind of recoiled from me, I'm guessing because I've never said something so strong to _anyone _(I was a little shocked I said that myself), so I'm hoping he'll leave me alone now.**

**Ok, I'm done ranting (or rambling). Please review! Jeez, this is a _long_ author's note...**


	15. The Land of Demons

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XV

Alexis

The Land of Demons

I know all of you who are listening to this are hoping that I wasn't asleep, and if I was, I somehow miraculously made it out, and I'm currently waiting for my friends to wake up and singing and playing on my guitar.

_Pas de chance._

While Louisa was being tackled, I was busy fighting for my life in a tiny little cell with my hands chained behind my back which made everything doubly harder against a manticore. Let me just say this: being a demigod sometimes has its perks, but most times it really sucks.

The manticore lunged, and I put every bit of strength I had into breaking the nearest pipe and using the water to blast the manticore back. The manticore, which I later learned that Percy called Dr. Thorn because the manticore disguised himself as a vice principal, shot its poison darts at me, and I ducked. I was tiring rapidly, and I stumbled a bit as I straightened. Acting completely on impulse, I grabbed the nearest dart with my teeth, careful not to cut my lip or tongue on the sharp edge, and slung it at him the way you would sling a Frisbee with your teeth. It struck true, hitting him in the gut, and with a loud wail, it burst into dust.

I hurriedly sawed my chains off on one of the other darts and busted down the door. The corridor was empty, thank the gods, since I had no weapon except my staff which I could probably use as a good baseball bat but not much else since I was exhausted.

I hurried down the corridor and I passed a door with some serious cursing and banging and _ha-di_ing, and I'll agree that the poor door looked very worn. I kicked it feebly, and it crumbled. A blond with blue streaked haired, blue-eyed girl appeared out of the wreckage, looking very annoyed.

"You kick it once and it crumbles, while I've been working on it for hours! What the freaking Isis!" she shouted at me.

"Hello to you too, Sadie. I think it's one of the perks of being a half-blood." I said. I'm sure I looked exhausted, since Sadie turned to me with alarm.

"What happened?"

"Oh, I don't know, I'm in a strange place, I've lost my sister, I've been battling a manticore for the past hour with nothing but my feet and powers since my hands were chained behind my back, and I'm worried about my sister!" I snapped. "Not to mention that Tartarus has given me until dawn in the human world to save my camp. So no, _je ne suis pas dans un bon jour_."

"Wait, wait, hold up. Tartar is trying to destroy Camp Half-Blood _how_? Where is Louisa? What is a manticore? How did you get free? Is everyone else all right? Why are you holding your staff like a baseball bat?"

I scooted around her and banged on an Egyptian demon's head with my staff. It fell to the ground, and I drove my heel into its chest until it dissolved into sand. "That's why I'm holding my staff like a baseball bat. I'll explain everything, but we have to go find the others and free as many as possible!"

Five minutes, a hoard of demons, two Camp Half-Blood campers and eight Egyptians later, we came to the end of the corridor and I smacked into someone as I turned the corner, breathlessly explaining what was going on and that staffs weren't that much of a use here for busting people out: kicking the doors down was much more effective.

I fell, turning it into a somersault and standing up, holding my staff over my head. When I saw who it was, I dropped my staff and hugged her. "Louisa! Thank the gods! Did you get everybody in that corridor?" I fired the question at her.

She turned and ran, and we all followed her. Apparently a lot more people had been in that corridor because a flood of people came after us, mingling with our eleven.

The three of us, Louisa, Sadie, and I, exchanged stories and explanations and plans. Louisa found out that we were actually in the Land of the Demons **(AN: mentioned in the Serpent's Shadow!)**, and already knew where everyone was, and only had to go and bust the doors down.

Sadie cursed when she heard that we were in the Land of the Demons. "We have to get out of here."

"What was your first clue?" I said dryly as I kicked down another door and two people came charging out of it. One of them was Jace, the other was blond with blue eyes like Eva, Thalia, and Joann's. Louisa instantly paled.

"Here we are again, Louisa." Jace said, hugging her.

"_Louisa?"_ the blond guy whispered, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

I was startled. "You know my sister?" I asked, since Louisa herself didn't seem capable of making a coherent response. "Oh, of course she would know you. You're from the Roman camp, and were there on Mount Othyrus." I said, suddenly understanding.

"Jason?" Louisa said. I'd never seen her look like this: like her world had suddenly been jerked out from her like she'd been standing on a rug and someone jerked on it and she fell off.

The blond guy, presumably Jason, stepped forward and poked Louisa in the arm, as if to make sure she was real. He did it once more as if to make doubly sure that he wasn't hallucinating, and then crushed her in a hug. "Nine years. Louisa Maria di Angelo, where on earth have you been for _nine_ _years_?" he said, muffled by Louisa's hair.

Sadie looked extremely confused, and I mouthed to her _explain at a later date_. She nodded, still looking confused.

Sadie edged over to me anyway. "Why does Louisa look like she's been backstabbed?" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"She was a Roman by training until she was seven. She lived in the mortal world for seven years, and then she came to Camp Half-Blood two years ago." I gave her the extremely abbreviated version. Sadie looked a bit gobsmacked.

"Explain further later." I hissed, as Jason and Louisa came out of their embrace.

"We need to keep going." Louisa said, sounding a little shaky.

Without further ado, we continued down the corridor, collecting more and more people until it looked like the entirety of Camp Half-Blood was following us. I was still worried, since we still hadn't found Eva, Joann, and Thalia. Percy was also still MIA. So was Nico.

We descended down a staircase, or really, I descended down a staircase, and looked around in horror.

Cages lined the walls. It was like those kennels for pets or dogs, only it was for humans. There were four occupants, and only one was conscious. All of them were shackled.

_Percy, Eva, Joann, and Thalia._

I summoned water and made waterworks, lightly dousing everyone to wake them up. Eva groaned and sat up. She looked horrible, with a big welt on her forehead. Joann didn't look much better, and Thalia's back looked like she was tortured with a whip. Percy was the worst, with a black eye and bruised jaw, and a horrible gash down his right leg, blood flowing freely. His shirt was shredded, and his eyes looked wild with pain.

I couldn't help it. I screamed out, _"LOUISA!"_ at the top of my lungs, effectively waking everyone up fully. Thalia winced every time she moved, and bit her lip, but did not cry out. Percy didn't move at all. Joann put a hand to her head and winced when she realized her wrist was broken.

Louisa stepped into the room and immediately gasped. The sound jolted me back to reality, and I encased Percy in water, hoping that would help. I ran over to Joann and told her, "This is going to hurt, so please don't punch me." I got out some duct tape and picked up a stick on the floor, and set her wrist. She bit her lip so hard she drew blood. I moved onto Thalia, and slathered her back in cream mixed with some crushed herbs. It would numb her back for the most of an hour, and she wouldn't feel the pain. I gave her some ambrosia. I gave Eva some ambrosia as well.

Oh my gods. How will we move them?

**Ok. ALL MUST READ THIS!**

**I'm sure most of the US people have heard about Hurricane Isaac. I may not be able to update next week because of the damage, assuming it hits my state. What's worse, it's due to hit August 29, the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which, long story short, I survived through when I was seven in an attic. Please pray for all that are going through the storm, and that we all make it through.**

**Also, a Colorodean reviewed on Winged Fire, just saying that she (I'm assuming its a she) was grateful for writing the story. I don't know if you're following this story also, but if you are, thank you for the heartfelt review.**

**I would not leave you hanging if I had to but this is an emergency.**


	16. Trap

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XVI

Louisa

Trap

Percy groaned, alarming me. "Go, they're after you." he wrenched out.

"_Credo nos relinqere tu es an alium potius convenerunt_." I muttered to him in Latin, which basically meant that we weren't leaving him and he'd better have another think coming.

"_Oh mon dieux! Je n'essaie pas de te faire du mal! Ne bougez pas!_" Alexis yelled in French to Eva.

"What's with the different languages?" Percy groaned, chuckling a bit. The water was healing him. He managed to pull himself up in a sitting position. "But seriously, this is a trap. Go!" he said to me.

"And I'll tell you again: if you think we're leaving you in this hellhole, you'd better have another think coming."

"When did you say that?"

"She did just now, _enfant de deux grandes proph__é__ties_." said a voice at the doorway.

Percy frowned. "Alexis, should I be offended?"

"Um, unless you don't like being called the child of the two Great Prophecies, no, I don't think so." Alexis said.

"Well, whatever you are, I really wish you would stick to a language I know." Percy said.

"Percy, now's really not the time to anger somebody else." I hissed at him, keeping one eye on the thing in the doorway.

"But of course I'm lenient. I've heard of your famous tongue, Perseus Jackson, so I expect no less than normal from you. However, I must take the girl."

"Uh, excuse me, I have a name." I said angrily. "And what the Hades are you anyway?"

She hissed. "A dracaena?" Percy asked, puzzled. "Uh, with one tail?"

"No, ssson of the ssssea god, I am Lamia, and I'm to have lunch on you, just as sssoon asss I'm done carting thisss one to the massster." she said, lunging at me. I turned to air with a very slight _poof!_ from my hurriedness.

"You know what, I'm really tired of you monsters hunting me down for either lunch or for someone else's lunch, so I'm going to kill you. Just a heads up." I said casually. I turned my knife to a solid and threw it at the Lamia. She hissed, sounding like a thousand snakes, and then crumbled to powder. "Now, we are getting out of here. I think most of you are able to walk…?" I trailed off.

Thalia gave an affirming nod and stood, leaning against the wall slightly. Joann stood, wincing slightly at the slight jarring of her wrist, and Eva stood up awkwardly, swaying a bit. Percy's leg was almost fully healed, as was his eye and jaw. He stood, leaning more on his right leg.

"We have to get out of here. They'll probably send more, and once we get with the group, they'll protect you all." Alexis said, fumbling with her pouch at her waist that I hadn't noticed before.

I nodded and marched out, to find that the group had already been defending us. It was a mixture of swords, knives, and wands against fur, claws, and teeth. In other words, it looked deadly. It was over quickly, since just a touch of Imperial Gold or Celestial Bronze would disintegrate monsters, and the Egyptians knew how to use those staffs and wands.

I helped Percy hobble slightly out, and then Alexis came with Eva, steadying her, and Joann and Thalia were kind of leaning on each other for support. There was a collective gasp, and then chaos. "Quiet!" I shouted. "QUIET!" That settled everyone down. "You," I pointed to a son of Apollo, "help them as best you can. You, and that group over there, go check to see if there is anyone in the next corridor, and then come back to this one with whatever people you picked up. Jace, please go with them. You," I pointed to Katie Gardener, who we helped rescue from her burning house in the Colorado fires last year, "and I are scouting ahead. Alexis, please help the son of Apollo." I looked around. "Sadie and Carter are in charge. I expect to be able to come back in five minutes and no fighting, partying, or anything too exciting besides monsters and people coming back here to have happened." I looked at Carter and Sadie, and then at everyone else. "I understand that we all have our differences, but put aside those for right now, since we are in more danger than most of you have ever been in before. Please go to your duties."

Katie and I walked to the end of the hallway and scouted ahead to see where exactly we were.

We got in trouble when we reached the door, both because we were maybe five minutes away from being sucked into the sea, which I froze, because it was exactly the same sea as my dream, and because Katie tripped a trip wire, which set off an alarm.

**Ok, I'm going to update you a little bit on my life right now.**

**HURRICANE ISAAC:**

**Actually not too bad of a hurricane, though we did lose a pecan tree(it snapped in half because of the wind and pounding rain). The pool's full, and we have four inches of standing water, but other than that, it's fine. No broken windows, just a lot of wind and rain. I'm at 44ft. above sea level, so I'm safe from flooding. We didn't even lose power, which surprised me. We did lose the phoneline for awhile, but now it's back up. The death toll for the hurricane (from what I hear) is only one, which is a miracle. Please pray for the 35-year-old man who fell thirty feet trying to get others to saftey.**

**SCHOOL:**

**It's fine, as fine as ninth grade can be. I haven't taken any more rough-and-tumbles again so far (knocks on wood) in PE, and Spanish is going fine; little wonder since I'm pretty fluent in it already. English: same as always, which is to say, rather hard. Algebra is relatively easy, though I'm horrid at negatives. I have a three-day weekend, so I may post another chapter on Monday.**

**REVIEWS AND STORIES IN GENERAL:**

**I have posted another one-shot: Thalia's Tree. About what Thalia felt and went through when she was a tree for six years. I also have another one-shot featuring the reunion of Percy and Annabeth, and what Jason felt about Percy, and what Frank and Percy felt about Jason. Another story is called What the Hades? and...well, if I summarize it, it'll give away the suspense. I have a FF for the Dragon Slippers Triology if anyone reads that series.**

**I'm not sure if you saw last chapter's shout-out, but someone said on Winged Fire that they were a Coloradoan, and did a heartfelt thanks for writing the story. Well, a colorodoan, I have a friend that lives up there, and I'm glad you are out of danger. I will pray for the states' recovery, as well as all the people lost. Thank YOU for reviewing on my story, and did I get most of it right?**

**Also, for those of you new to my stories, and for everyone else, a shout out is in order for people who are the fiftieth and hundredth reviewers, and since I recently reached a hundred reviews on Clashing Tides, thank you, Heddy12311! Also, you guys are one away from fifty reviews on this story, and I can't make up my mind on whether or not I'm getting you guys trained or if you guys just really like this story and it's worth reviewing.**

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**_Oh mon dieux! Je n'essaie pas de te faire du mal! Ne bougez pas!-_Oh my gods! I'm not trying to hurt you! Hold still!**

**_Credo nos relinqere tu es an alium potius convenerunt.-_If you think we're leaving you guys, you'd better have another think coming.**

**Speaking of reivews, please do so!**


	17. Get out of here!

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XVII

Louisa

"Get Out Of Here!"

I didn't wait for Katie to react and start running, I grabbed her arm and whizzed through the maze as air, going down corridors and busting doors wide open, startling several parties of monsters and demons. I turned Katie solid again, and yelled back over the alarm, "Get them to the others, let them know what's going on, and _get out of here_!"

I zoomed down five more corridors, busting down the doors until I reached the others. I appeared in front of Alexis, scaring the son of Apollo that I ordered to help her into next week. "We need to get out of here!" I turned to the others. "Pack up! We need to MOVE OUT!" I ran over to Sadie and Carter. "We're less than five minutes away from being sucked into the sea."

Sadie visibly paled. "The sea of Chaos?" I nodded. "We won't survive. We-" she gestured to herself and Carter, "-barely did, and that was only because of Zia; she was hosting Ra at that point."

"We're half-god, Sadie. You guys are mortals. If we can stick together into one small group with the magicians in the middle, we'll be fine. Any ideas from there on how to get out?" The alarm was still going strong, giving me a headache.

"What time is it?" she asked. I looked at her quizzically, but checked my watch.

I paled. "Just before dawn. Just before our deadline."

Carter caught onto what his sister was planning. "Do you think it'll hold-" he did a rough estimate of the two camps and the Brooklyn House, "Three hundred and fifty people? Not to mention the gods on that boat that won't fry us to pieces, but what about you guys?"

I smirked, and Carter groaned. "What are you thinking this time-no, wait, I know. You want us to not count you guys out so soon, am I right?"

"On target." I confirmed. "You guys saw what I did two years ago to your Chief Lector-a.k.a your Uncle Amos."

Sadie nodded slowly, thinking. Carter looked like he was going to say something, but apparently thought it was better not to. "No time to waste. Katie and Jace should be coming any second now, and then we're getting out of here." I said. On cue, Katie and Jace rounded the corner with a hundred more in tow, mostly Romans and Greeks, with Rachel right up front, Nico right behind her. Both of them looked alarmed at Percy, Thalia, Joann, and Eva's states. The alarm was now seriously getting on my nerves.

"Circle up everybody!" I hollered. I was aware of precious seconds ticking away. "As soon as we get out of this prison, the Chaos sickness will envelope us. Since the half-bloods or legacies have god blood in us, we can hope to protect the Egyptian magicians by putting them in the middle. We'll hopefully board Ra's sun boat and sail out of here, and remember, we aren't here as person-we're here as spirit, so don't worry if some of your friends are disappearing, because they're going back to their bodies. Egyptians-in the middle. Legacies around them, and true half-bloods around the legacies. Got it? Good! Circle up, and move out!" the whole explanation was relatively short, but I doubted that we would make it in time.

"Grab hands!" I hollered. "And whatever you do, _do not let go_!" I plunged into the very center of the circle and was between Sadie and Chloe. I yanked their hands apart and put them in mine, and I turned to air.

There were many gasps and a few screams as, as one, the entire circle disappeared. It was painful to keep them all this way, but I moved forward, and soon was dragging them all behind me, and soon going really, really fast towards the doors. I put a 'foot' right in front of me and felt the impact. The door shattered into a million pieces, heard over even the blaring alarm.

As soon as I was sure everyone was out, I turned solid and nearly collapsed. Everyone appeared in the right position: not even moving from the position inside the prison.

Now the trick was to get past the hordes of demons that were advancing, and get to the sun boat on time.

**I go back to school tomorrow. Darn.**

**Anyway! Fiftieth reviewer is sfu99! Two virtual cookies to you sfu99! (::) (::)**

**Please review! Let's see if we can get to a hundred reviews before this book's over, hmm?**


	18. Death and Despair

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XVIII

Alexis

Despair

I watched in horror as the house that we were in just three seconds ago plunged into the seemingly acid sea, amongst tortured screams of the monsters and demons. Nico di Angelo appeared next to me, formed out of black-as-night shadows and nearly scaring me into next week. I'd never met the guy personally, but my first summer there I'd had a dream of him, Percy, and Louisa's long-lost friend Eva Winston, exchanging a story of how Louisa was—_is_—the most powerful demigod ever born in Eva's cave, which she'd lived in for two years before Nico di Angelo found her by incorrectly shadow-traveling.

He and I were total opposites. I had blond hair now, from being out in the sun for three years, and very tan. My eyes were a bright blue, whereas his were black, like obsidian. I preferred my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans and Skechers, and he was dressed in black jeans, short, sturdy boots that Tesla would love since they were extremely practical, and Day of the Dead t-shirts with a black aviator jacket. He was pale with dark hair, and where I was easy-going, he was stiff. I couldn't see how we were cousins. I don't think he could either.

Nico looked at me in surprise. I couldn't figure out why, but my question was answered in the next beat. "So _you're_ the spirit I felt while we were figuring out that Louisa was my first cousin once removed."

I blinked. "Are we not in the Land of Demons? You want to talk about what happened three years ago while we're standing in the middle of a soon-to-be war zone?!" I asked incredulously.

"Are you sure you're Percy's sister?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean? That I don't _look_ like him?" I asked, riled. I sent a silent prayer to his father. _Lord Hades, would you mind shutting your son up before I have to soak him to the bone with ice water? Please?_

_Do it anyway. He needs some discipline that doesn't involve being turned into a dandelion._ I heard something grumble. Not really expecting an answer, I almost fell over in surprise. I mean, sure, I'd heard about the power of the gods and talking, but I'd never really thought it'd happen to _me_. **(AN: Just a reference to that gods-forsaken movie. I figured I had to do at least one or two references to the movie somewhere.)**

Oblivious to my shock, Nico continued. "No, no, not like that. It's that Percy always makes smart remarks in the middle of a battlefield and is totally ADHD, and you don't do either. Though, now that you mention it, you _don't_ look like Percy-"

He was instantly soaked to the bone. I heard a distant chuckle. Not everyday that a god approves of your soaking his son…

Nico was relatively short, despite being seventeen, and I drew up to my full height, looming over him. "Look, I don't really care what happened seven years ago, or the differences between Percy and I: I care about getting everyone out of here alive, and not in your father's domain, or Lord Osirius's domain, and I'm under _way_ too much stress right now, so you'd do well to shut your mouth and leave me, my sister, and the rest of the Big Three's children alone, because who aren't under stress are in pain. So I _strongly_ suggest that you shut your trap and get ready to fight, and keep in mind that I have _your father's _permission to soak you to the bone with ice water. Got it?" I said, my eyes steely. To his credit, he held up well under my bombardment until the last part, despite being soaked with ice water and had to be freezing, remaining impassive and stoic. His face turned to horror and confusion at the last part. I guess Nico was counting on backup from his father.

I turned on my heel, grabbing my staff and wand out of thin air, considering we were _in_ the Duat. I was hoping that magic would be easier since we were in the Duat, and for once luck was on my side.

Louisa was barking orders to lock shields, and draw weapons. Clarisse was right up there with her, and the Ares cabin and Fifth Cohort surrounded her, along with several magicians: the ones that knew her well.

Emphasis on _knew_.

The demons collided with us, sending the few that weren't expecting it into panic.

I spun on one heel, looking for an enemy to _whomp_ into sand, when I smacked into a demon with my staff accidentally upside the head. It stopped, then burst into a million colors that took me a moment to realize that they were coloring crayons. I heard Nico stop fighting whatever he was fighting, draw in a breath in surprise, and then start laughing. Perhaps it was the hysteria that I was close to breaking into, or the stress of pain and danger, or whatever it was, we were both laughing hysterically within seconds. I mean, I accidentally whap a demon upside the head and it turns into a hundred _coloring crayons_? What in Tartarus?

It tapered off quickly, and we fought our way through the hordes of demons. We were almost to the edge of the River of Night when someone near us cried out in pain.

I turned, ducking as I went so I didn't get decapitated, and threw my wand at the demon that was attacking me over my shoulder, and dissolved into paperclips. _What is it with me and school supplies?_

And then I saw who cried out, and sobered instantly. _Aiden._

I had turned just in time to see a demon with the head of a knife withdraw from Aiden's stomach, bloody and gross. I ran over and caught him before he hit the ground. _Does it count that it was just his spirit that was stabbed?_ you may ask. I've never really thought about it, but apparently so, since Aiden's eyes kept closing.

"No, buddy, you are _not_ dying on me today, ya hear?" I commanded him. "You are taking this, and this, and swallowing them." I told him firmly, giving him a painkiller and ambrosia. I saw with alarm that he was fading, literally. I could see my lap through him.

"No good, Alexis." he stopped my hand. I looked up at Louisa, and we shared a silent conversation. My heart shattered to pieces. "No good on wasting something that could be used for others on a dead man."

I felt tears coming. "You remember, that time in fourth grade, when I stapled my finger accidentally, and I was trying not to cry in front of all you macho guys? When you wrapped your arm around me and told me not to cry, otherwise you'd cry to and then you'd lose your macho-ness in front of all the other guys? I need you not to go, otherwise _I'll_ cry." I pleaded with him.

He smiled wanly at the memory. "I'll never go." he said. His fingers crept up his neck, where he tugged weakly at a necklace. He'd had it since he lost his parents when he was in fourth grade, and that was why he'd cry if I did, because he was always fighting back tears during that grade.

"Aiden, no. Not your locket." I said, torn between horrified and honored that he would give it to me.

He managed to undo the clasp, and then poured the chain into my palm, followed by the locket itself. I already knew what was inside: a picture of him and his parents and sister, and a lock of hair from each, including Aiden's.

"Aiden…" I whispered, blinking hard. With sudden strength, he lunged upward, and in that one moment, he kissed me, and then he slumped back onto me. He looked like he'd gotten too tired and fallen asleep on my shoulder, except the image was ruined by his bloody stomach. I knew he was gone, and I let the tears go.

I leaned over to his ear, and whispered where no one else could hear: "I loved you, too." and I knew he was totally gone, because his body faded until it disappeared.

**Ok, yeah, I know, you guys probably all hate me right now, but we are talking _demigods_, guys, and thank you, Heddy12311, for pointing that out in Clashing Tides, but these are _demigods_. They live short, hard lives most of the time, and go out fighting monsters or enemy half-bloods. There won't be two up-close-and-emotional deaths like in The Titan's Curse, only this one. There will be others, but no more up-close ones.**

**Did you like that little tiny bit of Alexis/Aiden I put at the end? I know, it was tragic, and probably cheesy, but I'm trying to keep up with my homework right now. So, Ciao!**

**But before I go, two words: PLEASE REVIEW! You guys are awesome for getting to sixty reviews! Four chocolate-chip just-from-the-oven-with-the-chips-still-melting cookies! (::) (::) (::) (::) Thanks!**


	19. Secrets Are Out and A Massive PowerSurge

**Listening to: Here, Now by Acoustic Alchemy**

**I don't own PJO or KC. I do, however, own the fantastic power show towards the end, the plot, Alexis, Jace, Joann, Eva, Louisa, and Aiden.**

XIX

Louisa

The Secrets Are Out and A Massive Power Surge

I could tell that Alexis was heartbroken. I didn't really know what to do, since my powers—both reserves—were exhausted. Both Jace and I were exhausted from _finally_ sending Tartarus back to where he was supposed to be—his namesake. That is to say, Tartarus.

The battle was won, it was over, but not without a price. Aiden was the only casualty, though there were some serious injuries that needed to be taken care of, and soon.

We were at the River of Night, but either we were too late or too early, since we couldn't see any glow. Then, all of a sudden, a boat appeared. It was small, and definitely couldn't hold three hundred and fifty people. But I noticed something. The closer to the river, the more people were fading out, going back to the waking world.

"Everyone! Get as close to the river as possible! But don't touch the water since it's like the River Lethe and Styx together." I hollered to the others.

"Ouch." Percy said, having swum in both rivers. He was still limping on one leg, but other than that he was fine. He put his arm around Alexis and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and wiped away her tears with one hand. With a sinking feeling, I suddenly realized what Percy had said to her, and if I was right, what her fatal flaw was. I had yet to figure my own out, and neither had Jace, and I'd been at either of the camps for longer than both of them: a total of a solid seven years.

I could see that many were gawking as their friends were slowly fading, and then went back to the waking world. _Yes!_ I thought. _If we can get enough people to disappear back to the waking world, the boat won't be so crowded or weighted down. Besides the convincing-the-gods-to-let-us-board, we should be home free._

_Should_ being the optimum word.

Sadie flagged down the boat with a magic flare, aka, a burst of fire arcing across the river, in plain sight to everyone, including gods. You'd practically have to be blind not to see it, and I don't think there are any blind gods. Leo followed up the flare with a fiery arch that looked way cooler than the St. Louis Arch, making it impossible to not know that there were people on the bank.

For once, luck was on our side, and Bes was on the boat. I'd only met him once (long story), but took a liking to him, whatever his looks.

"Sadie! What're you doing here again?" he hollered off the side of the boat that was slowly coming our way. He spotted me, and his jaw dropped to his knees…literally. I suppose a god can make exaggerated facial features. "What are _you_ doing here? How are you guys alive? You don't have Khepri to protect you!" he asked, genuinely dumbfounded.

I smirked. "One of the perks of being half-god. Or in my case, three-quarters god." Bes arched his eyebrows. I bowed. "Daughter of Poseidon, granddaughter of Jupiter, at your service. We also need to kind of get back to the waking world before our camps are attacked."

Bes climbed off the boat and slapped the small of my back, the highest point he could reach, or tried to. His hand passed right through me, even though I did not turn to air. "We're only here in spirit." I said, trying to keep the amusement out of my voice and failing miserably.

"Right." he grumbled. "I knew that."

"Anyway, about half of us have already gone back to the waking world, or are really close, so it's not three hundred and fifty people, only one hundred seventy-five. We need to get out of here before or at dawn so we can temporarily avoid the downfall of the gods…possibly _all_ of them." I added. "_Again._" I sighed.

Fortunately, they let the hundred of us on board. Unfortunately, for me anyway, Nepthys was on the boat also. She had inhabited my head for about two minutes last year during a dire time, and I had hated every second of it. Let's just say that I didn't like seeing her again. I don't think she liked it any better than I did. More and more people were fading, and those who were almost gone stayed behind. The people around me were fading rapidly, and I held my hand to my face. I could just barely see through it, whereas others I could see through quite clearly. Soon I was practically the only almost-solid one left. Jason gave me a hug just before he totally disappeared, ordering me to visit as soon as we dealt with the monster problem.

Soon I was the only one left, and it was disconcerting to see five gods staring at you, and one of them there is a mutual dislike. If Sadie and Carter were here it'd be fine, but with the way Horus, Isis, and Sobek were staring at me, I had a feeling that something was going to explode soon, and it wouldn't be good. I lifted my hand to my face: half-way see-through. I should be gone by now, but I'm not. _Why?_

I caught Horus whispering something to Isis, "…powerful…aura…sure…not…elementalist?"

I walked to the bow of the boat and looked out. My ADHD was getting the best of me as I wore a hole in the floor pacing. No one spoke directly to me, except one of those fireballs that recoiled at my 'scent'. Apparently half-bloods stink. Long story short, it tried to burn a hole in me. It didn't succeed since I doused it with water, and it went scurrying away. I got the feeling that four out of the six gods on here either didn't like me or wasn't sure of what to make of me. Lord Ra studied me, but didn't say anything, and let me tell you: fighting monsters is cake when you're surrounded by five unfamiliar gods that may or may not like you.

"Come here, young one." I started out of my reverie, and turned. Lord Ra beckoned. I had to agree with Sadie's description of him: the world's buffest, most golden grandpa. I walked forward, but stopped within five feet because of his burning throne that radiated heat. I bowed.

"Yes, Lord?"

"Your lineage is strong, and you have great power. You will need it before your quest is up."

I didn't doubt him in the least. If anything, I believed him. I _still _hadn't found my limits of what I could do, and I knew I would need it before I was done: who wouldn't, fighting Tartarus was practically suicide most times, and then I'd beat him, not once, but thrice. I knew Jace's and my battle with him would only dispel him for awhile: a year if we're lucky. A couple weeks if we're not. And my luck was almost as bad as Percy's. I _still_ hadn't found out if I was a legacy to anyone else, and the Hermes cabin and my own sister keeps telling me I must have Hermes blood in me as well.

I nodded slowly. Ra continued. "Know that the Fates would not cut your string before your time. They would not harm their only niece."

I blinked, once, twice, and was almost on the verge of saying, "Say _what_, now?" when he chuckled at my face. I guess I looked stunned.

"You look like you've been smacked between the eyes." he said, still chuckling.

"B-b-but…" I stuttered, trying to figure it out. "Lady Styx or Lady Nyx…they've never…" I stuttered some more. "…they haven't…they…"

Lord Horus got a glimpse of my face, and laughed out right. Lord Ra ignored him.

"Child, do not misunderstand me. Lady Styx takes the form of a mortal every eon or so."

"She's the goddess of mortality, also." I said, nodding.

"She needs to replenish her power by walking among mortals. If she doesn't understand how they work, what their technology is, she will slowly lose her power. She takes the form of a mortal, sometimes being born into the world, growing old, and dying, just like a mortal, but she returns to her river when she does die."

"But how…I know my lineage quite well…none of them were really half-bloods until Nico, my mother, and I." I said, trying to work it out desperately.

"Lady Styx's powers are not obvious. They have to know they are not totally mortal, and they extend throughout the line. Your mother and cousin Nico would have her powers."

I put my head in my hands. Trying to figure this out was giving me a serious headache. "My grandmother was Lady Styx? Was my mother an immortal?" _Gods, this is confusing. _"Wait, if my mother was immortal, I would be, too." I covered up my face totally. _Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot._ I noticed I was almost totally see through.

"No, child. She was like every other mortal, with powers like a half-blood of a minor god or goddess." I breathed out in relief. "Not many know that she sired your mother. I was close to Styx, once upon a time, and she came to me for help when she found out she was pregnant with Lord Zeus' child."

"But wait, weren't brought back just recently?" I said, so confused it wasn't funny.

"I'm like your Greek gods, in a sense. I can exist in many different places at once. Even now, my whole being is not with us." he said gently. I could see through my hands, so it was a moot point to have them over my face.

"You must wake soon. The others are waiting, concerned for your welfare." Lord Ra said.

I felt a whisper of a breeze, and I turned around. "Know that we will have to get together again, when you need it most. I may not agree with your methods, Louisa, but I will support you." Lady Nepthys said to me.

I felt myself being dragged away. I bowed to both. I turned to Nepthys. "Feeling's mutual."

I jerked awake at Camp Half-Blood, and was instantly crushed in a hug by Jace, Alexis, and Percy, as well as Nico.

"Can't breathe, here, guys!" I choked.

"You were asleep so long! We thought a god had gotten snarky and challenged you or something like that!" Alexis said as if that was the worst thing that could happen to me.

"Come on, guys!" I looked out the window. It was beginning to lighten up. "It's almost dawn."

I swung my legs over the edge of the bunk bed and dropped lightly to the ground. Alexis clambered down the ladder, while Jace, Percy, and Nico followed suit of what I did.

I strapped two swords to either side of my shoulders, made sure I still had my knife, summoned my staff and wand, and strapped on an extra sword just in case to my left hip. I strapped my shield to my right arm.

I looked up, and Percy had Riptide, and extra sword in case he accidentally dropped Riptide and didn't have time to wait for it to reappear, and a shield strapped to his left arm since he fought with his right. Nico simply had his Stygian iron sword and a standard-issue shield. Alexis had two swords strapped to either hip with a bunch of knives dangling from her belt, a bow and quiver full of arrows, and a shield slung behind her back. Jace simply had his bow and quiver and a single sword.

We charged out of the Poseidon cabin, and I noticed a lot of people were just standing there with there mouths wide open.

We had been too late. Monsters attacked the border, bouncing off of it, and Thalia's pine shook. The Golden Fleece looked like it was about to fall off, and Peleus was breathing black smoke signals, and cuts and stabs were all around his body. No matter how many monsters he charred to dust, or made crumble to sand with his claws, more and more monsters just replaced them. Suddenly a sonic boom was heard, and monsters charged through the borders.

I didn't think.

A wall of water erupted in front of the monsters, churning and gray, surrounding the camp and basically not looking very friendly. Several monsters ran into the barrier and were sucked in and pulled apart. They dissolved instantly into dust.

Percy looked at me. "How in Hades are you doing that?!"

"I don't know!"

"Whatever you do, _don't stop_." he said urgently.

"I can't keep this for long!" I protested.

He ran off. I growled in frustration, but I couldn't move, risk losing concentration.

A _dracaena _came after me, and I swung both swords and cut her in three: head, middle, and snaky legs. She burst into dust.

Some of the monsters had managed to get through the border of churning water I'd made, and had gathered together and launched an attack on the back of the camp while everyone was concentrated on the front. Then I saw a flash of golden pelt.

"Percy! Nemean Lion!" I yelled desperately. Alexis appeared next to me, shooting arrows at the monsters and flinging and knife every once in awhile. "Target the mouth or eyes." I said urgently. When the lion roared, he got two arrows and a knife in his mouth. I channeled a stream of saltwater, making him gag. More arrows sprang from the trees, and he got a mouthful of arrows. I kept shooting saltwater at him, keeping his mouth open, and he kept getting arrows in his mouth until he began to dissolve until nothing was left but a pile of sand and a brown NorthFace winter jacket.

Percy arrived, panting, with dust all over him, and charged into battle. I looked back. The stupid monsters were flinging themselves at the wall of water, determined to make it through, and they all got ripped to dust.

I got an idea—one that would probably cost me my consciousness for a week or three, but better than no idea at all—and I gritted my teeth.

I raised my hands and made a motion like I was going to hug someone in slow motion. The huge wall of water complied, and circled around a good portion of the monsters, squeezing tighter and tighter until it was a full ring. It went around the monsters, and started shrinking. I stepped towards it. The wall of water started spinning clockwise, getting smaller and smaller in diameter, taking dozens of monsters with each spin. Soon it was a watery tornado, with no monsters in the middle, and I took out my staff and lit it on fire. **(AN: Like the duel with Drew in Clashing Tides!)**

The wind picked up, and the clouds gathered. I felt six people join me in what I was going to do. I would probably collapse a bunch of houses in a mile radius, including the whole of camp, but honestly, I wanted to survive today.

I held out my staff, and put it to the tornado. Fire erupted around it. I dropped my staff, and held out my hands. It began to pour, with lightning flickering everywhere. The fire/water/wind tornado ripped through the ranks of the monsters. The ground began to shake, and bones erupted from the ground and engaged in combat with the remaining monsters. The ground continued to shake, and the rain became harmful to the monsters: like bullets. Lightning from the storm picked off monsters. Silver arrows ripped through Lycaon's wolves, injuring Lycaon himself.

I stumbled, about to collapse. The ground shook violently, and Percy added more power to the earthquake, making campers and monsters alike stumble and fall. More and more bones erupted from the earth. I thought about what Alexis had said what Eva had said I could do, what seemed so long ago but was only three years: _"She is the connecting point to the Big Three. We can be unstoppable, because she can channel all three of our powers and enhance them."_

I added more of my own power to the effort, and the rain turned to hard bits of ice that ripped through the much-smaller monster army. The water/wind/fire tornado was still going, and lightning and bones picked off lone monsters. The earth was shaking so bad it would probably register as a 9.5 on the earthquake scale. The cabins were collapsing, and the Big House swayed violently. Campers were falling to their knees or lying on the ground with their hands over their heads until the six that were doing it were the only ones standing.

I had been slowly collecting the others' power and holding it for one final blast, and I let it loose in one horrible scream.

I could never tell you what happened next in detail: a massive tornado, a tidal wave, an earthquake that was off-the-charts, and lightning that blinded me, and then I fell, sinking into the blackness, thinking that it would be a long time before I woke up.

**I believe I can say without boasting that this is the best chapter I've ever done. Period. I've made this chapter my favorite. Does anybody else agree?**

**You guys are just plain awesome, you know that? I won't ask you to review, even though you guys know that I'd love for you too, and here's a bunch of cookies to anyone and everyone reading this!**

**(::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) ****(::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

******************************************************Artemis Hunter's-Yes, Aiden is a half-blood: a son of Hecate to be exact!**


	20. Aftermath

XX

Alexis

Argument

Well, none of the Big Three's kids could tell you what happened next, because they all passed out for a minimum of a full twenty-four hours (Eva) ranging to a coma for two months (Louisa, of course), so I'm finishing up the story with Jace's help, since Louisa recently woke up just before we were recorded this story, and still hasn't gotten the full report.

[Here.]

[Well, you know more than I do!]

[Just take the stupid freaking microphone and tell what happened for the first two days, since I was out cold! Gods, is it really that hard?!]

XX

Jace

Aftermath

Once the seven collapsed from over-extending their powers, a lot of us just stood around in shock. I mean, sure, we had heard of the immense power of the Big Three, and the rumors that Louisa combined all of them: more tightly knit, but we hadn't actually _witnessed_ the power she had. It was scary, believe me, and truthfully, I would never look at my girlfriend the same way ever again.

For those of you who want to know why, here it is:

Louisa, when that wall of water erupted from the ground, I could swear her eyes were changing color: from a sea green to the same gray-blue color as the wall of water. Percy looked wild, as he always did in battle: wild but restrained somewhat, as if he was tempted to let loose his entire power on the monsters to show them it wasn't good to mess with the son of the stormbringer, earth shaker, and tide-bearer. That would be truly scary. If Percy's power was half of what I'd seen from the power display that Louisa had shown three times (once when Drew challenged her, once with the Hoover Dam water, and once now), I was in awe.

The second thing: Louisa looked absolutely dangerous, lithe as a panther and dangerous as a stormy sea. She had glowed with an aura of power, and I was sure the Hecate cabin was freaking out: later I found out that if anybody had been within four feet of her, they probably would've passed out or even died from the power, like looking at a god in true form.

The third thing: When Louisa made that water spout with fire, I was, and I quite frankly admit, shaking with fear of her, and it wasn't because of the earthquake. Her expression was regal, queenly, even, but looking as about as tamed as a wild tiger: unrivaled and vicious.

The next few days were rough, and we'd had questions from the Brooklyn House on what went on. Louisa kind-of underestimated the amount of damage she would do. It upset the people in New York City plenty: it wasn't quite as bad as the Great Quake in San Francisco in 1906, but it rattled many when ceilings came crashing down and wardrobes walked right across the floor. There were numerous reports of broken bones, power outages, trapped people, collapsed ceilings, fractured supports, kitchen fires, and shattered windows. No deaths were reported, thankfully. Just like last year: we may cause a lot of damage, but we don't kill anyone, like Percy and Mount St. Helens.

[Chill, Louisa, it's fine. Remember Battle of Manhattan: Percy and the statues did a lot more damage, though the people are probably wondering how their city was destroyed at least three times in a decade.]

We're not Romans, and we're still rebuilding the camp. Most of what was in the Big House and was breakable was destroyed, and most of the cabins had caved in. Due to the fight, no one was in the cabins anyway, so no one was hurt.

Three days after the battle, we were organized enough to have a proper funeral for Aiden and the one other who died in the Battle of Half-Blood Hill. Her name was Maya, from the Iris cabin. She had held off two monsters at once with a week of training to save her six-year-old sister, Lyla. Aiden's shroud was a dark purple with a flame with a little sparkle to it. Maya's shroud was tie-dyed with a peace symbol embroidered on it. Aiden's sister, Lou Ellen, and Lyla lit the pyre together, while Alexis sang a hero's mourning song that Will had made up on the spot a few years ago, when he lost a brother in the Giant War.

_Fighting for life  
Fighting for hope  
Fighting for friends  
Fighting the enemy-y…_

_You swirled through the masses  
To meet your impendent doom  
To see your life before your eyes  
And taken just as swiftly…_

_Coins in hand you approach the stand  
To wait for the ferry, to cross the River Styx  
The life you had was but a dream  
And the ones you left behind grieve_

_You fought for life  
You fought for hope  
You fought for friends  
And we couldn't ask for more…_

Unfortunately, we all knew the song far too well. Aiden himself had named it _Hero's Death_, and it seemed like cruel fate that we'd be the ones singing it to him on his final journey.

We were all getting worried, since Louisa, Percy, and Nico were still not reviving, and we medics feared that it was a relapse of what happened at the last battle, which seemed like so long ago. Others feared that Tartarus had captured their souls again, but I knew better. Louisa had severely over-extended her powers, and it was little wonder that she was out cold for two months. After all, she had used a lot of power in the Duat, and used a lot more out here.

We'd had to straighten Thalia's tree, which at been half-way torn out of the ground from the tornado-force winds going on around it, and it took three of the Ares cabin and five of Demeter's most powerful children to set it right. Then we had to find the Golden Fleece, which had been trampled and thrown half-way across camp, and drape it where it had been.

Twenty-four-foot long Peleus circled around "his" tree warily as we approached. It was actually Alexis who had to calm Peleus down, and I could hear Percy hyperventilating next to me as we all watched as Alexis soothed the over-protective and wary Peleus. I could tell he was having bad flashbacks from one of his quests, and later he told me the last time they had to calm a dragon, the same girl died that day, partly because of the poisoned bite, partly because of her father's blow, her father being Atlas, General of the Titans.

All the people who had been there to watch Thalia's tree being cured of its poison from a solid decade ago **(AN: by the way, I'm starting to think that the HoO series happens within a matter of months instead of years like PJO.)**, sagged in relief. Thalia herself shuddered, as if part of her was that tree still, or maybe she was just having more bad flashbacks like Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, along with everyone that had been there for ten years or longer.

It was sad, in a way, and full of hope in another. Seeing Thalia's tree's pine needles brighten, and watching the evening sun shine brighter, the little group that had once been the greatest demigods from all history, even better than Theses or Hercules or the _original_ Perseus. Maybe all three together, too. That small group was all that was left from that dangerous time. And in a way, that provided hope, for me, for Louisa, for Alexis, and most of all for surviving the coming episode that was going to happen, sooner or later.

* * *

Nobody was awake when I sneaked from my cabin, or so I thought. When I crept down to the ocean to watch the sunrise for old times' sake, I'd only sat there for two minutes when I heard a voice behind me.

"You're the hero in this one, Jace. And I don't envy you one bit."

I whipped around. Standing on the sand about four feet behind me was Percy Jackson, his sea-green eyes trained on the sea sadly, as if he were thinking of all the times he'd seen someone die. Then he looked at me in the eyes, and I truly saw how much of a dangerous enemy he really was. His eyes were deep. They had seen war, pain, and death, something no one should see at my age or any age, and he'd seen all three, and came close to feeling the third many, many times. He was a living legend, and I could tell he wished he could be a regular camper, and not have to make the ultimate choice, be the one to defeat the bad guy, the one relied upon. He didn't want that. He wanted as much as the rest of us, if not more so, to just be a regular person, and all he'd have to worry about was the thirty-page essays that he had to do in college.

Percy wanted to simply have a break, and he hadn't had one in a long time, and he looked almost relieved that it wasn't him this time.

He would fight to the death for his friends, protect them at all costs, blamed himself for anything that went wrong, and he didn't credit himself for the incredible things he _did_ do. He _had_ returned the master bolt to Zeus when Ares stole it, and battled and _won_ with Ares with barely a week of training. He _had_ gotten the Golden Fleece, and battled Luke Castellan to stall for time. He _had_ saved his girlfriend from Kronos, and held the sky while he was at it, earning the gray streaks in his hair. He _had_ navigated the Labyrinth, found Pan, and battled Kampe. He _had_ waged war on Kronos, defending the gods' thrones of power, keeping the fire going. He _had _been kidnapped by Hera, sent to Camp Jupiter, and fought two armies in the same day, along with a giant that was his father's nemesis. He _had_ defeated Gaea, who had made the wrong move, practically throwing Athena's words back at her, and Percy knows it: "To save a friend you would destroy the world," and that's _exactly_ what he'd done. Literally. **(AN: That's what I think will happen! Anyone agree?)**

"I know. And I don't envy you one bit either." I replied finally, after witnessing what Percy Jackson, saviour of Olympus multiple times, felt like after all that.

"You are the new generation. And with every generation comes a new hero." he said, sitting down next to me.

We watched the sun come up, and I had mixed feelings. Despair. Hope. More hope than despair, but they were almost equal anyway.

"But that doesn't let you off the hook. You'd better take care of my sister, you hear me?" he said, pointing Riptide at me, but well away from my chest. I threw up my hands in mock-defense.

"Yessir!" I squeaked.

Then we both burst into laughter. Rather hysterical, but still laughter.

**More of a filler than anything, but a VERY long filler. More of a bonding chapter.**

**But really, that's what I think'll happen in the HoO series: In the TC, Athena says, I quote: "To save a friend you would destroy the world." Gaea is the world, no? And if she made a wrong move, such as kidnapping Annabeth, or Nico, who's already kidnapped, and Percy busted out Riptide and went all ninja-fencer-Poseidon-powers on her...things could get ugly. Severely. That's just what I think, and to me it's perfectly plausible.**

**High school. _How is it?_, you may ask. Boring. Ick. I don't like (insert my state here) Studies. Or gym. I ran half a mile yesterday, though, without stopping. Some of you are probably like, _that's cake_ or _jeez-um, that long?!_ I don't care, that was just a fact. I thought I could do better, but apparently being outside has something to do with that. No clue.**

**Please review! You guys are absolutely awesome, you know that, right?**

**BTW, while I'm thinking about it, I got at least two reviews saying that what Louisa went through was like what Percy did in BotL. I didn't mean for it to be like that, but I think it's cool!**


	21. Two Months Later

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXI

Alexis

Two months later…

It was two o'clock in the morning when Louisa finally woke up. I was dozing lightly, and then I bolted upright when I heard a rustle. All the times I'd sat watch for her to wake up, not even a mosquito stirred, let alone a mouse.

I stood up, feeling vertigo as I did so too quickly, but ignored it. Louisa groaned, and opened her eyes.

"How long?" she asked, her voice thick. I took a second for me to decipher her words.

"Two months."

"WHAT?!" she yelled, bolting upright, or trying to.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, gently pressing her to the mattress again. "Just because you were out two months does not mean you are ready for fighting monsters." I said firmly. "If anything, that would make me more inclined to _not_ let you out of bed for another two days. At least."

"But-"

"Louisa," I said so severely, she stopped struggling and looked at me. "You've taken care of me for the past three years, now it's my turn. Tartarus was forced back. No one in New York was killed from that seven-point-seven earthquake you caused."

"Seven-point-seven?" she shrieked incredulously.

"As big as the Great Quake in 1906, though no one was killed." I confirmed. "Louisa, you need to calm down, or you'll black out again."

She calmed down a little.

"The camp is mostly rebuilt. New Yorkers are fine. A little shaken up, but fine. The worst injury was a major concussion. The guy got out of the hospital a month ago." I soothed. "Tartarus was forced back to his pit. No monsters have attacked camp, and we got three newbies. Besides the numerous buildings damaged, both here and in Greater New York, everything's ok."

"Who are the newbies?" she inquired.

"Madison is one. I knew her from school a couple years ago. Actually, all three of them I knew, whether directly or indirectly. Lindsay I knew from a meeting in Walmart. Sheila is Madison's friend, and that's how I knew her."

Louisa sank back into her sheets. I sat on her bed, the footboard supporting me. I told her all about the camp and what scientists thought what had caused the earthquake. Louisa drifted off to sleep again to the sound of my voice.

At six o'clock, she woke up again.

"Already back into the routine, sis?" I joked.

She sat up, and this time I let her.

"Why's it so cold?" she asked, shivering slightly.

"It's autumn, Louisa. Do the words _out for two months_ mean anything to you? It's mid-September." I said. I pointed outside. "The leaves are turning colors."

Louisa shook her head like she was clearing out the dust and cobwebs. "What happened exactly after I passed out?"

I smiled wryly. "You'd do better to ask your boyfriend rather than me. I passed out right after you, as did the rest of the Big Three's children."

"Oh." she said, then shook her head again. "Help me to the beach."

"Didn't I tell you that I was bed-resting you for two days minimum?"

"Yeah, you did, but you know me. Always breaking the rules."

"No, that's Percy. You come in a close second. But you break all the rules of physics, not the actual rules that Chiron gives you." I teased.

"Then help me to the beach. The laws of physics say I shouldn't be able to walk after that long of being out, so help me."

I shook my head in disbelief of her determination, but I helped her to the beach, her leaning on me heavily. People came out of the cabins and started clapping slowly as we made our way to the beach. It was almost dawn, after all, and many were getting up. Jace stood at the end of the honor guard, and Louisa broke away from me in a limping run, and threw herself at Jace. The applause turned into thunderous cheering. Percy thrust himself through the crowd, as well as all of Louisa's close friends. Percy wrapped his arms around her as well, and it turned into a group hug of me, Percy, Jace, Sadie, Eva, and Thalia, all of whom had fully recovered.

A small line parted from the Big House, and Chiron walked through, with a demigod at his side, who was leading another group. Blond hair, blue eyes, with the same severe look that Percy got when he thought about his past. A small scar on his upper lip, from when he tried to eat a stapler when he was two.

The group hug broke apart at the same time Jason reached it. He was limping on one leg, and he had another scar on his cheek, that looked like a claw had gotten it.

It seemed that the whole world was holding its breath. The people of the group hug were standing at the sidelines, except me, who was standing nearby incase Louisa needed support. It was almost like one of those cheesy movies, the reunion after nine years of searching.

No one could tell who made the move, but suddenly they were in a tight hug, Louisa dangling off the ground slightly, her being five-foot five and Jason six foot. You had to look closely, but Jason's shoulders were shaking. Gwen broke away from the small group and they did another group hug, this time with Romans and a whole lot more emotional, since they haven't seen her in nine years.

Annabeth winced when she had seen Jason, and I knew why: blond hair, blue eyes, with a long scar that looked like a claw scratch. I hadn't met Luke, but I'd heard the description enough times that I had a pretty good guess, and Jason met all those main qualities. Only Jason had battled Kronos' forces, and he wouldn't turn against us.

So we stood there, some of us crying, as the morning sun came up, and bathed the sky in the pinks, oranges, reds, and midnight blues I knew so well.

I had a flashback of the campfire, which seemed like so long ago:

_We stand here cryin'  
Lookin' for answers to our pain…_

**So, you guys thought I was ending the story, huh? Sorry about that. Jace was just helping, and you guys know I end the books at chapter 29 and do a thank you for chapter 30!**


	22. Paintings

**Disclaimer: Psst! You want to know a secret? You do? Well, guess what! I don't own PJO or KC! Oh, you already knew. Darn.**

XXII

Louisa

Paintings

Gods, I was emotional. I guess being knocked out for two months does that to you.

Everyone was here: the Hunters, some of the Romans, Chiron (whom I hadn't seen in a long time), and of course all the campers. My brain was a little fuzzy from the two-month sleep, but only really minor stuff I couldn't recall.

Apparently, the Romans didn't want to wait for me to wake up and come over to California, so they came here and waited. Reyna was back at the camp to make sure Octavian didn't do anything, and was dancing with impatience practically until I came over to the other side of the country. Jason sent a regular-sized eagle to Camp Jupiter, letting everyone who hadn't gotten to go know that I was awake and would come to see them in about a week.

When he'd told me that, I'd arched an eyebrow at him and said, "A lot can happen in a week. Look at the past week as an example!"

Jason looked at me funny and said that nothing in particular had happened in the last week, and then I'd remembered that I'd been out cold for two months. It should be the middle of summer, not the beginning of fall. We should've had a big fight just recently. All the cabins should've been somewhat leveled. Bones should be littered everywhere. Thalia's tree should be crooked. Gods, my internal clock was messed up.

It's true the Greeks weren't Romans, but they had done a lot in two months. Almost all the cabins were done. The Big House was being refurbished still. Everyone was out of the infirmary. Thalia's tree wasn't crooked, and the ground over where I'd made the water/wind/fire-tornado-thing was beginning to grow grass again. Half-Blood Hill overall looked fine. The lake had a new inlet from where the ground had cracked open to release the bones and caused the earthquake. Some of the cabins still had blue tarps over sections of roofs, but other than that everything was fine.

I wasn't put on bed rest for two days, thankfully. I went looking for my sister about noon.

I found her at the beach, holding a paint brush with a half-finished canvas in front of her.

"It's beautiful." I breathed, once I got closer. Alexis smiled a bit.

The canvas was a black-and-white painting of what happened this morning, except the sunrise, my eyes, and Jason's eyes. Those were all in vivid color. Thalia's tree stood strong in the background. I was being hugged tightly by Jason, dangling off the ground, and my eyes were filled with tears. So were Jason's. The sunrise was beautiful, and the sun was right behind Jason and I. You could see Gwen running up to us to join in the hug, with everyone else close behind. The cabins were done in detail. You could see every blade of grass, and strangely enough, it was done with watercolors. All of a sudden I understood how she could've gotten that much detail with watercolors.

"You used your powers, didn't you?" I said, smiling at her cleverness. Alexis smiled wider, and I knew I'd been right.

I smiled and hugged her, watching the colors shift and move until Alexis was satisfied. Then she bent over and grabbed a seashell: perfect, not broken, the same color as the sun. Alexis grabbed a little bit of glue, and pasted it onto the canvas, and the colors in the sunrise shifted again to fit the seashell. Finally, she grabbed a very thin paintbrush, and dipped it in acrylic paint, which took me a second to decipher since it looked like: _crAlyci aPnti_.

And then she wrote in a delicate font: swirly, but too much so that it looked like spaghetti to a dyslexic person: _"A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." –Ecclesiastes 3:8 (King James Version)_

I thought the quote was very appropriate.

Then she took the painting from the stand and set it to face the sea breeze.

It was then that her hair looked like fire and Celestial bronze together, and her aquamarine eyes were dancing with delight. Her posture was one of true happiness, something I hadn't seen on her since Aiden. I used my own powers and the little water left in the watercolor palette, and when she set the next canvas on the stand, I splashed the colors on there, startling her. The colors rearranged themselves from a blob on the canvas to show Alexis what she just looked like. And then, I had another idea. The colors blurred for a second, and then the same picture reappeared on the bottom. Then there was a foggy border, and the picture of the land of the demons, with Aiden's head on Alexis' shoulder.

Alexis gasped in shock. I didn't really understand why. Maybe it was pain rather than shock. That I could understand.

Another picture appeared: one we took last year, during the winter, and Chiron allowed snow to fall lightly. We'd made snow people, and tried to make them as life-like as possible, and there we were, arms around each other, laughing hysterically, while Aiden was behind us doing bunny ears on each of us. Jace had been the one to take the picture.

Another picture appeared: last summer during the dance, when Alexis had slow dance with him, with me and Jace in the background. Alexis knelt on the sand, and I wrapped an arm around her, and kept going. Picture after picture we'd taken with us and the two boys: snowmen, stained glass windows made out of fall leaves, Alexis fighting for her life on Half-Blood Hill when she had first arrived, Aiden with his arm around Alexis, his head buried in her hair, Alexis laughing. Also some not-Aiden scenes: Alexis curled up by the fire in the Hecate cabin (since a fire could never last an hour in the Poseidon cabin), with yet another book in her hand, me and her in the amphitheater after we'd brought Joann in, me and her in the Brooklyn House, her flipping over Sadie in the Brooklyn House, her battling the flames in Colorado last year.

And then I wrote, _He's gone, but that doesn't mean you can't honor his memory_.

Percy came up behind us, and wrapped his arm around the other side of Alexis, and we honored all those we've lost, both in the past, and in the present, and we sang the song for those who hadn't been able to bear it. Eva came up, bickering with Joann like true sisters, and they both stopped when they heard the three of us. More and more people came up, and stopped to wonder, and then stopped wondering when they saw the paintings. Then they either waited, respectfully for the dead, or joined in singing _Hero's Death_.

Then I noticed wisps of mist on a bright day. There shouldn't be any fog this late in the afternoon. Then I noticed Nico, and he nodded. The dead needed to hear our song. Aiden's ghost walked to Alexis and brushed her hair, or tried to. His hand evaporated as soon as it got close to the living. Alexis herself smiled sadly. Maybe she couldn't see the ghosts, but she could feel Aiden's presence.

Alexis turned around to Nico. Nico dipped his head to her, and then shadows crept across the sunny sand, twinning their way up his legs, and he melted into the darkness. The ghosts remained as long as we sang the song, and then they evaporated as well.

Alexis sighed, and leaned against me. I circled my arm tighter around her. The crowd began to disperse, and I felt Alexis truly let go. I correct my earlier statement: Gods, _we_ were emotional.

**Right now they're just recovering from everything, and they just need a bit of a break, I think. This chapter was so sad I wanted to cry...**

**Please review! Wow, 77 reviews! (::) (::) -To all the people who have reviewed!**


	23. Shouting Match and Dolphins

**Gods! Do I really have to repeat myself for like the billionth time?! I don't own PJO or KC!**

XXIII

Alexis

Shouting Match and Dolphins

About a week later, Louisa asked me when she'd be able to go to New Rome or Camp Jupiter. I told her that she needs to be able to stand for over half an hour and be able to protect herself easily. Even with the two-month sleep she was whooped from that power surge, and she couldn't stand for longer than half an hour. There was a good thing about that, and several bad things. The good thing was that I didn't hear her climb out of bed and begin pacing some nights. One of the bad things was that she almost collapsed when she tried to spar with Percy for two minutes when he visited for Thanksgiving. Another of the bad things was that she didn't have the stamina or strength. And then of course was the trauma of not knowing what season it was. She almost froze to death this morning when she slept with just a sheet instead of a sheet, blanket, and comforter like we do during the fall and early spring. She looked shocked when she looked out the window and it had frost creeping over it, with frost on the ground as well.

I admit, I wasn't used to taking care of Louisa. She always was the constant, even when everything else was absolutely crazy. Now the roles were reversed, and instead of her yelling at me to put the stupid book down and turn out the darn light, I was reminding her to put on her freaking coat for the umpteenth time before she went outside. Instead of her telling me to quit writing the book over my way and get to archery, I was telling her get up off the sand and go to swordfighting class. Louisa seemed a little dazed for a couple days after she woke up, and when I told her something, sometimes she would look at me as if I'd just thrown up all over her for no apparent reason.

Louisa pestered me and Percy (who frankly has a lot more rope than I do when it comes to patience) so much that I snapped.

"Louisa! I know you want to go see your friends that you haven't seen in nine years, _however_, not everyone there will be friendly! You need to get your strength up and be able to stand for extended periods of time!" I yelled, frustrated out of my wits.

"How do you know I haven't recovered?" she shot back.

"Because of this!" I flung myself at her, no weapons, and she was instantly up against the wall, pinned by me. She struggled weakly, and even tried to drag me off of her with her powers, but I overpowered her powers, if that makes any sense, and the water splashed to the floor. "Normally you could've defeated me instantly, Louisa! If I can do this, then who knows what the Romans could do to you. I've already seen enough death and pain for one summer, and I don't need to add you to the list of the Big Three's children that were tortured for information!" I yelled in her face. She flinched. "Before you wouldn't have flinched when I yelled at you! You would've come up with some witty retort! You wouldn't have to have me remind you what season it was! You were the constant in my life, Louisa! Now the roles are reversed, and I'm the one telling you to quit watching the sky and go to whatever class, reminding you to grab your coat, instead of you telling me to turn out the _maudit_ light and go to sleep!" I let out a wordless growl of frustration. "I understand that you're pressured with the prophecy on your shoulders, but you _are not Louisa!"_ I screamed.

I pushed myself off of her and stormed out of the Poseidon cabin. Percy met me at the door, having heard the scream, and tried to block me, but I shoved him out of the way and ran to the beach.

I dove smoothly into the water, and swam about a mile out, then dove straight down. I had a flashback to my first summer here, when I dove straight down to the bottom of the canoe lake. Fish darted around me, and I could hear their thoughts, mostly _Daughter of Poseidon! Daughter of Poseidon!_ and a little gossip from the fish that had either not seen me or didn't care. Like Percy dove in after me, in a raging turmoil of emotions.

I turned around as something thrashing caught my eye. A little dolphin, probably a baby, was trapped under one of the many wrecks of fishing boats.

The dolphin looked at me with panic in its eyes. I swam closer, and it freaked. "Hey, hey, it's alright." I soothed. The dolphin eyed me warily. "It's ok. I'm going to try and help you." I got a little closer and tried to push the wreck off of the baby dolphin that obviously didn't trust me.

It didn't work. When I went to find out why, the boat on the other side was practically sewn into the ground by plants. I swam back to the other side, and saw with alarm that the dolphin was thrashing less, because of the lack of air. I remembered that dolphins were mammals and breathed air like we did. I panicked a little.

I maneuvered my body so that it was underneath the wreckage, and found a place where it seemed reasonably solid and without shards of glass, and braced my feet against the ground. I pressed my back up against the solid part, and pushed with all my strength. The boat shifted slightly, and the dolphin jerked awake and looked at me. I pushed again, hard as I could, and I could hear the _techk techk techk _of plants snapping. The baby's tail was almost free, but the dolphin was going back to sleep from the lack of oxygen. It was clear she didn't expect to live. I shifted my shoulders, and winced as glass shards and splinters ground into me. I pushed with my body and kicked into gear my powers and pulled the boat away from the dolphin. Whatever part of boat this was, it was extremely heavy.

The baby dolphin's tail was completely free, but it didn't move. I winced as I let go of the boat with my powers only, so the entire thing was resting on my shoulders, and gently guided the baby out of danger.

I let go, simultaneously darting forward to daylight, and pushed myself out just as the entire thing collapsed. I grabbed the baby and darted up to the surface in record speed.

The baby coughed and spouted a lot of water in my face, and we sat like that for awhile until the spewing and coughing subsided. Then the baby practically passed out in my arms.

I swam carefully to shallower water, where I laid the poor thing down, and that's when I truly saw the extent of the damage.

Apparently the baby had gotten too close to a boat propeller and it sliced up its' entire backside. The mother had probably taken the brunt of the impact to spare her baby, and so the baby was an orphan. The tail was badly mangled, and it would be close to a miracle if she would ever be able to swim properly again.

I was interrupted from my speculating on how to heal her by Percy. "Alexis!"

"Gods, can't you see I'm slightly busy." I muttered, irritated. I turned with the still badly damaged baby in my arms. "Yes?" I demanded impatiently.

"Louisa—" He said, and then saw the baby, and paled. "Where did you find her?"

"I rescued her—since I guess it's a her—from under a fishing or part of a bigger boat. Not entirely sure." I said.

Percy blinked, thinking about something else, obviously, and then turned to the baby. "Looks like boat propellers." He gingerly touched the tail. "This is where the boat pinned her?" I nodded. He shook his head. "I've freed plenty of things over the years, but I've never seen one as badly hurt…" he trailed off. Percy was thinking hard.

"Ambrosia?" I asked. I knew it was fatal to mortals, but what about animals?

"I don't think so…maybe. But I don't want to take the risk."

My jaw set determinedly. I'd never treated a dolphin, or really any animal, but this was a _dolphin_. A creature that lived in the sea. It was my home turf, no pun intended, and how hard could it be? "Fine then. We'll do this the old-fashioned way."

My fists clenched after I handed Percy the dolphin, and we both knelt in the water so the water was supporting the dolphin more. Percy was strong, but dolphins are heavy, baby or no. I imagined water in the Poseidon cabin gathering, picking up my medicine kit, and bringing it to me.

I set the waterproof case on the surface of the water, and opened it. Thankfully, the sides were deep enough so that no water got in.

I slathered the dolphin's scratches with marigold poultice. She flinched and woke, looking startled to be in the presence of two children of Poseidon. She immediately began to thrash.

_Owie, Mommy! Owie!_ I heard the dolphin cry out. To anyone else it would've been just meaningless squeaks and clicks, but the dolphin's words were quite clear to me.

And then there was, _Sea._ I stopped what I was doing, and looked at her. She was looking at me with a stunned-slash-horrified expression. _Sea girl._

I looked at Percy, who was looking at me with amusement. "You got a dolphin, I got Blackjack. Wonder what Louisa'll get."

"This is not funny, Percy! What the freaking Hades do I do?" I said, panicked.

"Alexis, you're scaring her! Calm down!" he said warningly.

_Sea. Goddess sea 'Lassa._ The baby dolphin said.

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"Thalassa, goddess of the sea. She probably can't pronounce the 'th'." Percy said, looking at me, still amused.

"Yeah, I got that. _Anyway_." I said, focusing my attention on the scratches again.

I gently dabbed the marigold poultice on her tail and she let out a long trill of pain. "Sorry, sorry, but it has to be done." I whispered to her. I wrapped her tail with bandages, not sure how long it would stay since the dolphin's skin was very slick. Not slimy, just slick from water and the oil that the dolphin produces to go through the water quickly. Instead of just doing a tuck, I clipped the end of the bandage to the rest of them with a metal pin—something like a bobby pin.

I sat back, admiring my work. The dolphin was completely treated, but it was a matter of time to find out if she'd be okay. Between almost drowning and the scratches, she'd been through a lot for one day, and I was reluctant to let her go, where I couldn't keep an eye on her.

Percy seemed to be having similar thoughts. "Should we build, like, a giant aquarium for her? I mean, to keep an eye on her?"

I looked at him. "One, where would we put it? And two, how could we build it? We have no experience building things like that."

And of course, Louisa came storming up to me, looking outraged, but I didn't feel fear. I felt hope, because there was a light in her eyes that hadn't been there since she woke up.

**To me, this is really, really bad. I have no idea where this came from, but I'm having a serious writer's block on this story. It sucks. Badly.**

**School's fine. I swear I failed half my Spanish test because I kept mishearing him.**

**I'm getting a new teacher tomorrow. I'm half-hoping and half-not that it's not a guy in a wheelchair (Mr. Brunner). But seriously, how awesome would that be?! The old one was having heart problems and he's not eligible to go to school and teach if he has a chance that he'll suddenly keel over from a heart attack and die. Not a good thing.**

**I'm sorry for the late chapter! Cookie? (::)**


	24. Creepers

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXIV

Jace

Creepers

Well, Alexis elected me to tell you this since she was practically channeling the Oracle along with Rachel or passed out for the most part of this and scaring us all s***less. But I'm kind-of getting ahead of myself.

We had all tried vainly to get Louisa to calm down after Alexis' explosion, but she either ducked under our arms or flickered to air through us. She ran into Percy once, but she ducked under him too. I later found out that that was the exact same thing she'd done when Louisa first came here and was trying to get to the Big House.

The gaggle of us that included Percy, Eva, me, and Joann, who was worried for Alexis' sake, split up to find her. Obviously, Percy found her but got distracted by the baby dolphin and didn't alert us. I found them in a shouting match and Percy trying to break them apart (trying being the optimum word), and Rachel arrived on the scene, and then it went downhill from there.

I'd never seen Alexis as really scary before, but I knew Louisa packed a mean punch, but all of a sudden her bright blue eyes were shadowed in pain, and she looked a lot more threatening with her height. Her hair was down and wild from the braid that she always had in, and flew around her face, causing her to look almost sinister. She had a kind-of demure look to her, but, like Percy, she didn't look all that scary until she was mad or desperate.

"You don't know what I've seen, Louisa! You blame me for keeping secrets from you, yet I'm doing it for _you!_" Alexis yelled.

"I know you can see the past, Alexis! I know that pain and anguish that every one of us harbors! _But it doesn't help to keep it bottled up!_ Believe it or not, you need to let go sometimes!" Louisa yelled right back.

"Hey, guys, whoa. Let's take a chill pill here." I said, trying to get them to stop and look at me, even for a second. Needless to say: it didn't work. The girls were getting even more riled up.

"You don't know the things I've seen, both from you and Percy! I have nightmares almost every night from most _his_ quests!" Alexis yelled. Percy stopped and stared at her. "Empty blackness swallowing whole, clutching something in my hand, and when I wake up I'm biting my lip so hard I draw blood and my sheets are crinkled in my hand! You think that's easy to go through and act like there's nothing wrong the next morning? I've lying to everyone at this camp for three straight years, Louisa! You'd think I'd've broken long ago!" Alexis hissed. There was a small ring of campers that were either trying to get them to quit or to fight (Ares cabin). Alexis looked dangerous. Period. Louisa looked a bit stunned, and Percy looked shaken. Her outburst silenced everyone instantly.

Except for Rachel.

Alexis stepped forward her eyes a dark blue, so it in contrast to Rachel's green. They spoke in sync, Alexis normal and Rachel speaking in threes: _Two will speak with the voice of one, the three are ready when the bout is done, _beginning the beginning of the creepiness.

Alexis scanned the clearing, creeping me out with her ferocious gaze.

_You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you a friend  
You shall fail to save what matters most in the end.  
But despair for your life entombed within stone  
To fail without friends, to fly home alone._

Alexis whipped around and faced Percy, who was whiter than a sheet.

_The Titan's Curse must one withstand  
And one shall perish by a parent's hand  
Destroy with a hero's final breath  
And lose a love to worse than death._

Alexis faced Annabeth and Clarisse, one who was crying and the other glaring daggers at her. Her following words made Clarisse paler than Nico.

_Doomed to wander the infinite maze  
To discover one who is crazed  
You heal and the quest undone  
To be finished by another one_

Alexis turned back to Percy.

_A single choice shall end his days  
Olympus to preserve or raze  
An oath to keep with a final breath  
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._

She spoke with purpose and clarity, and yet there was a shaking sorrow to her voice. Some were too shocked to register that, absorbing that she knew the prophecies. Then she turned to her sister.

_The grace of one and the powers of the other went unto her  
She will become called a goddess  
By the ill-made action of another  
If the grace of one and powers of the other collide  
The earth shall tear itself apart  
In a frenzy of sea and sky._

Rachel spoke, and everyone jumped except Alexis. She looked mad, but level-headed, and she apparently knew what was coming next.

_Of a war in flames  
Of a trial of pain  
Of empty blackness  
Of a daughter of Atlas_

Rachel fell over, but was caught by the crowd behind her and gently lowered. Alexis turned to her sister again.

"_You never knew_, Louisa, for one reason only: that prophecy weighing on your shoulders is heavy enough without my pain on it. You would try, but you would crumble before then. The world would crumble to help me, and that's why I was cursed with this sight: to help you make or break that prophecy. That prophecy of yours was made to be held by two shoulders, and we can't fight: either it or each other. But at least my fatal flaw isn't as fatal as _his_." she pointed behind her at Percy.

There was quiet between the two, a contest of wills. Forest green met navy, and they had a silent conversation. I heard one little kid at the back of the crowd whisper to his friend, "What's the creepy girl talking about?" causing a little laughter around the area.

I mentally compared the two. Louisa was a fiery spirit, despite being a daughter of the rhythmic sea. Alexis preferred routine, but she could whip up just about anything in a moments' notice. Physically, they were nothing alike. Bright blue against sea green. Blond/brown/red hair against black. Tall against somewhat short (shhh!). If you compared Louisa to Percy, they were practically twins if it hadn't had the age difference. Alexis and Louisa? _Sisters_? You're kidding.

They seemed to come to an agreement or argument, it was kind of hard to tell, since Louisa just vanished into thin air in a rather disturbing way.

What came next I wasn't really expecting either.

**Ok, I'm really sorry for not posting on time! I have no idea where this came from, but hopefully you guys know what the prophecy means now.**


	25. Proposal

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXV

Jace

Proposal

What I wasn't expecting was a tornado to come crashing down onto the beach and the waves to whip up frothy foam, scattering the whole of the camp instantly under tree cover. I stayed, since I knew that tornado could rip through the trees as I can with paper.

I had to admire Alexis' courage to stand up to a raging windstorm, but besides occasionally spitting out pieces of hair that flew into her mouth, she looked like she dealt with tornadoes every day of the week—_without _a weapon. I could see in the midst of her wild hair her smirking.

But besides that small piece of information, she looked uncaring that a tornado was not fifty feet in front of her. Small, yes, but still a tornado. I wondered what on earth was providing her with the smirk, and what had gone between the two when they'd had a silent conversation. I was still wondering what the prophecy that Rachel had spouted meant, and about Louisa's prophecy meant too, but I was getting the beginnings of a horrible idea—one that scared the living Hades out of me.

Louisa appeared again, her feet solidly to the ground, her arms crossed, hair whirling, eyes almost black. I looked at Alexis, and her eyes were the same. I wondered what the two were up to.

Faster than I could blink, the two were fighting. Not swordfighting or wrestling: really I couldn't figure out what they were doing, but they were pretty evenly matched. If I hadn't had eyes trained to watch arrows flying through the air, all I'd probably see is a blue, gray, and tan blur. Even _with_ my enhanced sight, it was still hard to take in.

The two girls weren't doing a catfight-sort-thing: go to the Aphrodite cabin for that. They were doing a real, all-out, dangerous fight that was a weird mix of judo, street fighting, and martial arts. With the clashing sea and…

Suddenly, everything fell into place. The prophecy: _If the grace of one and powers of the other collide_. If Louisa and Alexis collide…

_The earth shall tear itself apart/In a frenzy of sea in sky. _

Styx.

To say I was unhappy was an understatement.

I watched in awed horror (I firmly believe those two words should not be in the same sentence, unless in extreme emergency) as the two dueled it out. Alexis rolled under Louisa's roundhouse kick to the right flank, and Louisa probably got a good bruise on the leg where Alexis flat out kicked her like she was a soccer ball. Louisa flipped straight up as Alexis did a perfect kick to the stomach where you can't really duck or dodge it unless you knew in advance it was coming, and she disappeared mid-air and re-appeared behind her.

It began to pour, and I noticed that the sand was shifting ever so slightly under my feet.

They ducked, flipped, dodged, kicked, and punched until they no longer used their powers and concentrated everything on the fight. I won't go into details, because then you'd get totally bored since you can't really see it. Alexis finally won after about sixty bruises, three shallow scratches, one black eye, one sandy eye, and a good fifteen minutes of fighting. I had backed up several times to get out of the way, and got clipped by Louisa's foot once.

Alexis had Louisa's legs stuck firmly in the sand and had her arm around Louisa's head, in a headlock. Louisa seemed to be trying to get away (read: turn to air), but wasn't successful for some reason.

"So," Alexis panted. "How are you _without_ your adrenaline and angry rush?" Alexis wiped the sand out of her eye.

Louisa winced as she got up. "Considering just now, not so good."

"Yeah." Alexis agreed, watching Louisa. "I hear you. I think it would be the same on this side." I guess lying to us for three years straight—which I still can't believe—has made her have an excellent poker face.

Louisa said something I couldn't catch, but Alexis hit herself on the forehead with her palm and dragged it down her face. I had to laugh at that.

I threw stones in the water as I watched the sun go down. I heard a shift in the sand, and my hand went instantly to my bow and arrows, of which I didn't have on me.

"Chill. Just me." Percy said calmly.

I had actually been thinking about Percy, which was kind of creepy. About his girl problems, mostly.

"Dude, you need to propose." I said, and then wanted to shove it back in. You could swear I was ADHD as well as the rest of the demigods, but _noooo_, I only had dyslexia.

Percy jerked out of his thoughts and looked at me strangely. His sea-green eyes unnerved me, as I couldn't read them. Yeah, most demigods had weird eye colors, and he was no exception, but his were a green that was brighter than Rachel's when she was all Oracle-at-Delphi-mode. There was a darkness and depth for them too, dulling his eyes when he thought too much.

He and I had gotten kind of close since that threatening at the beach two months ago. Who knew, right? But now it had kind of become a regular thing for us to meet at sundown and either throw stones into the water (me) or stand there awkwardly (Percy).

"You know you could hurt the fish with the stones?" As usual, Percy tried to persuade me into stopping, but I wasn't going to get sucked into the debate this time.

"No, seriously, you should." I said, throwing another pebble.

Percy shifted uncomfortably.

"Gods, if you're uncomfortable, sit down for Apollo's sake!" I muttered, throwing another stone. It skipped once, then sank.

Percy chuckled and sat down, thankfully. He was silent for a long time.

"Dude, not much is harder than falling down Tartarus and surviving to tell the tale," when I said that, he grimaced, but I continued on: "and I totally understand that you're afraid that she'll say no and, I'll admit, she's a little scary, but seriously! How bad could go wrong? That a monster will interrupt you guys and it bursts into dust because she threw her knife over her shoulder? That the Stolls will play a prank on you two and you get squirted with slime and egg? That you two get dumped in the water? Again, I might add? Percy, it took the two of you four years to get together and you've been dating for nine, now! I think you know each other well enough by now to know if you can stand to live with her!"

"You sound like Percy, pulling something deep out of what seems like no where." said a voice on the other side of me, scaring me into next week (I know, _what's the weather like?_ Two words: Shut. Up.), mostly because it was Annabeth. I scrambled backwards like a crab on fast-forward.

Annabeth laughed and took off her hat, shimmering into existence. Its magic had started working again as soon as she had restored the Athena statue back to life.

I was a good five feet away, and I wanted to give them some privacy, but I wasn't sure how to disappear without looking rude. I sure wished Louisa could turn me to air and race us away from here, however nauseating it was.

I was no son of Athena, but I started trying to formulate a plan to get myself out of here before he proposed. I was near the greenery, and since Annabeth was focused on Percy and vice-versa, maybe I could…

"You need some help?" a voice whispered right next to my ear.

I could feel myself dissolving, literally, and the light-headedness took over for being turned to air. I couldn't tell where we were going, hopefully just _away_ from there.

For my next trick, I doubled up and emptied my stomach. Some trick, huh?

I stood up and looked around. Somewhere towards the beach and yet in the cover of the trees.

"Shut up, they're proposing!" someone hissed.

Faintly, I could hear, "Annabeth Chase, would you marry me?"

**Ok, yes I know, I'm mean. I'll probably post another one tomorrow.**

**OMG MOA IS OUT! If anyone wants to have a debate on it, PM or review it with me!**

**I have a poll going on my profile for the next book. You can vote either here or there. Here are the choices:**

**The Hunter's Forest-Eva finds a half-blood living in her cave after three months of not being in her cave. The new demigod is wary of the camp nearby. Will Eva be able to convince the new demigod without scaring him/her (not decided)? Just the beginning of it, I'm sure the plot'll take me down some path I hadn't seen. Will be the only book with Eva's POV.**

**Bitter Secrets-In an all-girl mission, Louisa, Alexis, and a couple others embark on a mission: a half-blood was spotted in a school where you would least expect it: Roseville, Virgina, and a strong one at that. Their mission: to go undercover into the school, befriend the half-blood, and get out of there. But what happens if that school is one for spies? And what if they get caught by the no-longer-hunted Cameron Morgan? Kane Chronicals+Percy Jackson and the Olympians+Gallager Girls. Set right after their winter break. Egyptians play important role.**

**Freezing Silence-Louisa, Jace, and Alexis go to a school in the Appalachians undercover in hopes of finding the half-blood that Cameron sent up a distress call about. But with a powerful monster on the loose as well as a major snowstorm about to hit, will they be able to keep the half-blood safe and get out of there before the snowstorm hits? Or will they be trapped a thousand feet above sea level by snow with a monster in the school? Egyptians play important role. Set during winter. Jace's POV frequently.**

**Actually, I would like to do Freezing Silence, but I thought I might like to have my readers have a say in some of the things. I'm not so sure about Bitter Secrets, but I had that idea, and I had to write it down. Hunter's Forest I have a feeling will stutter and stop sometime in the middle, soooo, please vote!**

**Also, could you review? Hundredth reviewer gets lots of cookies and a special surprise! Wow, 93 reviews...**


	26. Engaged

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVI

Alexis

Engaged

I couldn't believe that my probable future brother-in-law, Jace,

[Don't tell me to shut up, Louisa! I'm not the one that's blushing to the roots of her hair!]

that sometimes hard-headed idiot, got _my brother_, Percy Jackson, the _always_ hard-headed idiot, to propose to a slightly scary but smart Annabeth Chase-soon-to-be-Jackson.

Seriously, I threatened him with death by Annabeth to get him kicked out of college if he didn't propose to her. What's he do? The next week, the college is burned to the ground by a chimera, the first attack in two months on any half-blood.

I suppose he has the luck to get him that. _And_ he's fought that thing three times now. Once on his first quest, once last year, and once this year.

_Deux._ I suppose it takes a hard-headed guy to talk something into another hard-headed guy.

The silence reigned for a long moment, and for a second I thought Annabeth was trying to figure out the best way to tell him _no_, but my ears almost burst at the resounding, "YES!"

There was a _thud_, and I peeked out to see that Percy's face was turning red and Annabeth was on top of him, hugging him really, really tightly, depriving Percy of air. He may be able to breathe water, but if he can't breathe at all that's a different story.

Annabeth quit hugging him and then kissed him full on the lips, and I covered my eyes and mouth to keep me from screaming, "Ew!" and/or throwing up.

Instead, I went over to check on Jace. I could sympathize with him: it wasn't fun being turned to air, even if it was necessary.

"So, when's the wedding, lovebirds?" Clarisse asked.

"Like you're the one to talk, Clarisse!" half the camp shouted.

I started laughing. The irony of it all—at the beginning of the summer I was depressed because of Joann, and then we got the problem of being kidnapped in our sleep, and then there was Aiden, and then there was Louisa passing out for two straight months, and now the world's being rocked again by Percy and Annabeth getting engaged.

This had been one hectic summer. And unfortunately, I knew it wouldn't get any better as it went on, not for another year, at the least. At best, it would be resolved next summer.

At worst, the entire camp would go up in flames.

_Bad Alexis,_ I chided myself. _Just think of the engagement. No pessimistic stuff._

"Just how many of you are there?" Percy asked suspiciously, slightly ruined by the gasping.

The entire camp flooded out of the dense foliage, along with some cursing as a couple (read: Hermes cabin) got their leg tangled up in the vines or got stabbed by thorns.

Clarisse and one of her brothers picked up Percy, and two others from the Ares cabin picked up Annabeth and hurled them into the Sound.

Half an hour later, we were _supposed_ to be going to campfire, but when nobody came, Chiron went and found us camped out on the beach, fires blazing, courtesy of Leo Valdez, with marshmallows dripping off the stick, about twenty to a fire. If the Mist hadn't covered the beach, you would've seen ten or eleven fires dotting the beach.

Apparently, the time Percy and Annabeth had _first_ gotten together, they were dumped in the lake and stayed under for about half an hour also, so the part of the camp that had been there hadn't been real surprised when they didn't bob back up immediately.

Perhaps the party would've gone on all night, who knows (it's happened before). Percy and Annabeth stepped out of the surf and held their entwined hands high. Rings glinted in the firelight on their middle fingers. The party stopped, and then turned into major cheering that probably could've been heard in Greater New York.

A satisfying close to the summer.

**I seriously liked this chapter. It's now sealed that I am a major supporter of Percabeth.**

**By the way, there was a bit of confusion about their age: Percy is 21, and so is Annabeth. Demigods lead short lives, and so they should get married early.**

**Hunter's Forest: 1 1/2  
Freezing Silence: 3 1/2 (including my vote)  
Bitter Secrets: 1**

**So, that's the total so far. If anyone else wants to vote, please do so! Freezing Silence is winning so far, and I'm glad, since I have a rough plot sketched out in my head.**

**Starting the next book, I will be doing my Author Notes slightly differently. It'll start with a Question of the Chapter, then answers to guests and shoutouts, a real book recommendation, and then a FanFiction recommendation. To top it off, something from my life and the occasional plea or thank-you to a reviewer.**

**To all guests: Don't be afraid to review! I will respond to you.**

**Just as a curiousity (did I spell that right?), how many people actually read this?**

**Also, my offer still stands for the hundreth reviewer!**

**Please review!**


	27. November

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVII

Louisa

November

"Yes, Alexis, you _will_ have to wear that." I said, trying hard to keep my amusement in check. Alexis looked at the dress and heels that I just showed her like she was wishing them to sprout legs and do a running jump into Tartarus.

"Um..._why?_"

"Because, if we, along with Jace, are going to infilter a school to go after a half-blood, we have to go to the New Year Dance, and that includes a formal attire." I said, trying hard not to laugh. Not smiling wasn't an option now.

She sank backwards onto the bed across the room, eyeing the dress like it was going to turn into a Kindly One and try to kill her very painfully. "I'd rather be tortured. Oh wait, that _is_ torture. You're making me wear a floor-length dress!" Alexis groaned.

"It isn't until January!"

"So? It's a freaking dress! I hate them! Despise them! Would rather be whipped by a Fury before I'd wear one!" she moaned.

"Wow, sis, that's a bit extreme, doncha think? You wore one last year for the party, and one two weeks ago!"

"I didn't have to dance! I can't dance in a floor-length dress! I can't do anything in a floor-length dress! And that wasn't a dress! That was a skirt and shirt!" she protested. "I'd rather join the Hunters." she mumbled into her pillow.

I snorted. "You managed to get into a school, get out, shoot a monster in the eye, and manage an unruly half-blood that thought you were nuts when you said your father was a god, all in a dress that was longer than the floor and _not_ trip and fall on your face two weeks ago. _And_ you danced beautifully at that one, besides that fact that it took me an hour to get you dressed because you kept jumping around the room!" I said, exasperated.

"I didn't like that dress." she mumbled, again, into her pillow.

"_And_you complained about that dress for a week afterwards! I got that." I added, as she said her comment.

"And you did something to the dress so I couldn't get it off until the mission was done." she accused, looking at me in the eye.

I held up a hand, smiling. "Guilty."

"Uhhh." she groaned, and flopped back onto the pillow. I had to laugh at that.

"What're you laughin' at?" she grumbled, sounding more like, "Whirruaftinat?"

"The amount of times you've flopped on your pillow."

"How's that funny?" ("ersatrunny?")

"You do it so dramatically. You need to get your head out of that pillow, girl, so I can understand you."

"Ereermoinucool. EndIanoooama."

"What in Hades?" I said, looking out the door.

"I said, good thing I'm going to school. Then I can go to drama." she said impatiently.

I waved at her to shush.

"-she isn't going to fall for it." Oh, of course, the Stolls, plotting some other prank. You'd think they'd grow out of that at the age of twenty one, but noooo, and they don't bother to keep their voices low. Stealthy as water buffalo? Try as stealthy as an Egyptian demon with a knife head and monkey arms. Pfft.

"Of course she is."

"Five drachmas she is."

"Deal."

I rolled my eyes and went back to a complaining Alexis.

"Louisa, why do I always have to do the missions with the dresses? I hate dresses!"

_Yeah, I got that already..._

**So, yeah, thanks so much for waiting, and I'm really sorry for that... Onto the next chapter. I think I'll like the next one better than I like this one.**


	28. New Rome

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVIII

Alexis

New Rome

Louisa definitely got better, and after awhile she was automatically wearing long pants and jackets. Jason and the Fifth Cohort had moved out reluctantly, going back to Camp Jupiter.

The gods had agreed that we shouldn't have just one camp for all demigods, and that we stayed apart as much as possible, but that was kind-of hard to do, since there were many friends amoung the demigods.

It took a bit longer than a week (note the sarcasm) for us to get back to Camp Jupiter, but after Louisa was well and re-trained (is that the right word? I don't think so...), on orders from Reyna, somewhat to Chiron's disapproval of being pushed around, Louisa, Jace, the Greek part of the Seven, and I were invited (read: ordered) to New Rome.

I was thinking that the four of the Seven may turn into three by the end of the trip.

Blackjack, always faithful, let the newly-engaged couple (Percy and Annabeth) ride on him. The _Argo II_ could've supported us all just fine, but it would take a bit to start up again, and Louisa didn't want to wait. Niether did Camp Jupiter, obviously.

After we all got off our various modes of transportation, Louisa was mobbed by the Fifth and Fourth Cohort, followed closely by the other three, eager to see who it was, and last of all, Reyna, Jason, and Octavian, Reyna and Jason yelling at Octavian.

Needless to say, I didn't like Octavian. I'd met him once (don't ask), and instantly took a dislike to his twisted ways.

"I don't **ing care about whether or not you liked Louisa or trusted her, she is my sister, and can probably use your own knife to do a gender change on you, and trust me, I think half the camp would help!" I yelled at him, after hearing what he said about Louisa. Octavian cringed and shut up. Reyna looked at me in masked relief, and Jason ran off.

"Alexis, language. Gods." Percy said. Pfft. Like he was any better.

Apparently Louisa got claustrophobic and turned to air, because all of a sudden everyone that was mobbing her fell over since they were all leaning on her and the people that weren't were leaning on the people that were leaning on Louisa, so she did a Domino effect.

Louisa appeared beside me with a slightly green Jason clinging to her neck like it was the only thing that kept him from falling over and emptying his lunch.

"Don't worry, Jason, we all have that reaction." I said, feeling sorry for him.

"Oh, so you'll agree with him and threaten and insult me?" Octavian asked childishly.

"You could go die in Tartarus for all I care, and him I can at least respect if nothing else for being a peacemaker between the Greeks and Romans, not like a certian guy whose name spells OCTAVIAN and led war against the Greeks. Not to mention that he's short as well."

It was true, I stood a good two inches above him. I was almost 5'10", and if I was towering over him, he was pretty short. Not even going to go into scrawny. Octavian stubbornly glared at me. Louisa joined me, and so did the Praetors. I don't think Octavian has enough eyes to keep glaring at everyone.

"Louisa, may I?" I asked, itching to do so.

She understood. "Alexis, do the honors that we all want to do."

I punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. "That was for all the grief that you give everyone. And that," I kicked him in the nut, "was for almost breaking my hand with your hard head."

And with that, I turned and marched into New Rome, unstrapping my quiver and bow before Terminus could even ask for them.

**I like this one MUCH better than my previous one. The epilogue is going to be longer than most, just warning you. Gods, I'm almost done with yet ANOTHER book...**

**SNEAK PEEK FOR THE NEXT BOOK HERE:**

**"Ok, so what in Hades are we doing here, in the middle of nowhere?" I asked.**

**"It's a project we're doing. Really, if you want to get technical with it, a mission. Cameron found Chloe here as well, looking for a magician. She's stronger than all get-out, but invisible as the wind, apparently. She must live with someone like Smelly Gabe, like Percy did to cover up his scent." Louisa said.**

**"Sooo...Percy expects us to find her, get her out of there, and get her to Camp in a short amount of time?" I asked.**

**"Pretty much." Alexis said.**

**"Oh boy." I muttered as Ms. Sally drove us there.**

**SNEAK PEEK END!**

**You like it? theHuntress101, I need it soon! You know what!**

**Please review!**


	29. One Final Thing and Epilogue

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXIX

Alexis

One Final Thing

With the soon-to-be war coming up, you wouldn't think I could be cheerful and contented 2000 miles away from what I now considered to be home, but with Louisa's coming and Piper and Jason hanging out (literally, they sat in a tree one night, looking at the stars when I looked out to say good night to Artemis) together, and Leo and Reyna bickering like fast friends, it was like home. I was accepted, even though the Romans were stricter.

So I wasn't really expecting it when Reyna announced that instead of deathball, they would have something else: a welcome-home duel between Jason and Louisa.

Jason and Louisa were grinning from ear-to-ear, and I overheard some whispers that they weren't gonna place any bets on who would win or lose.

Personally, if Louisa beat Percy once when she was mad and again when she wanted him to shut up (long story), and Jason trained Louisa, and then she turned around and got trained by Percy, it should be pretty evenly matched.

The duel was set up in the Fields of Mars, with a giant tent to block out the sun. It was pretty spacious, but with four hundred Romans and seven Greeks, it was a little crowded.

The space where Jason and Louisa would duel (not to the death) was a little cramped, but I knew it would escalate pretty high before the duel ended if I knew Louisa.

It started out relatively slowly, and then Jason managed to get by Louisa's sword and go for her stomach, but Louisa flickered out right when the sword pierced exactly where she'd been. Her sword clattered to the ground.

Jason stumbled a bit, and Louisa appeared behind him and kicked the sword out of his hands. He spun around with a roundhouse kick to the side, where she would've hit the ground and probably dislocated something, if she hadn't manipulated the winds to catch her and throw her back at Jason. It looked like Louisa was a ball someone had thrown at a wall and she bounced off, going back to her sender and knocking him over.

It turned into something like a wrestle and a power duel. Let's say the tent didn't last too long.

Despite the Roman's firm anchoring down, the tent blew up and tipped over, rolling like a square ball across the Fields, the winds picking up drastically, and informing everyone that one or both of the two was mad when a tornado encased the dueling duo.

[Shut up Louisa. I didn't ask for that response of whether you liked my comment.]

The tornado spiraled round and round, staying in one spot and creating a crater about the size of a dump truck because of it, causing everyone to back up a good ten yards.

It was hard to see inside the tornado, but I got bits and pieces. I got that Jason had a black eye and Louisa had a good-sized cut on her arm, but that was it.

Everyone's hair was whipping in the wind, waiting until the tornado leveled out.

I was kind of startled when I heard something not unlike a sonic boom, and Louisa and Jason were suddenly very visible.

They fought with swords again, their moves swift and unfaltering, sometimes faster than the eye could follow. Louisa had one hand up and her shoulders hunched like she was bearing a heavy weight. I then realized that she was pushing off the tornado, overpowering Jason, and that beyond Louisa's hand and shoulders, the tornado started up again.

The invisible plate that Louisa was holding up tilted until it was vertical and right in the center of the tornado, causing the winds to bounce off and scatter.

Jason and Louisa were still dueling.

Some of the people were still on the edge of their seats, some were like, _Can I go home now?_ and some were like, *yawn* (Octavian).

I didn't realize Percy and Annabeth were standing next to me until Annabeth said, "Boys against girls?"

"Hey! No! They get you!" Percy protested.

I pretended to think about it, and said, "You're on. I've been waiting to get back at Percy for a while." I grinned.

"For what?"

I waved it off. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we got some boys to beat."

When I joined Louisa in battle, I felt a lot better. But apparently, so did Jason and Percy. The only real difference was me, sense of course Percy and Annabeth were on their own duel.

Percy seemed to be in two places at once. At one point, he was fending off Annabeth and helping Jason, at another, he was in a heated battle with Annabeth, their strikes so fast I couldn't see them but a black, blond, orange, and blue blur.

Jason seemed to be renewed, and I kind of felt left out, since Jason and Louisa seemed to have it handled, but then, I was a Greek, according to Romans, and we break rules.

Let's see how true I can make that rumor. Not that Percy already confirmed it.

Louisa and I fought like a true team. She would swipe at one side and I would guard her other. When Jason went to pin me down, Louisa deflected his sword. She would thrust, and I would go in at the other side in case Jason tried to go some place.

It ended in one major showdown when the girls had Percy and Jason surrounded.

I had one more trick up my sleeve, if Jason would do what I thought what he was going to do to Annabeth or me. I learned, three years ago, that water was an excellent conductor of electricity.

Sure enough, Jason unknowingly complied.

When the lightning arched from his fingertips, I raised my sword and let the water absorb it, and flung the water around the two as a barricade.

"Ok, fine. You guys win." Percy grumbled. I let the water disperse, and the people who were watching just stood there.

Then they erupted into thunderous cheering.

* * *

_If you told me four years ago that I would be stopping a war, I would be thinking either that you're crazy or hoping that you are. But now that the time is almost here, I feel strangely unafraid. I'm scared, yes, but not for myself. The prophecy rides on several shoulders, including mine, but prophecies can unwind strangely, and not in ways we can expect._

_I learned something, this year here. It isn't about faith, or hope, or trust, or any of those happy things._

_Fear. It can be a motivator, a show-stopper, a petrifyer. To some, it's a simple nuisance. Others have to fight their way past it. Some use it to guard their loved ones, the ones they're closest to. Still others use others fear to their advantage and bend it and twist their minds. Some show it, some don't._

All_ have to fight it._

***sniff, sniff* Another two books and I'll be done. I can't believe it.**

**Freezing Silence HAS won, and I can reveal what the prize was if you were the 100th reviewer: create an OC!**

**I know, I know, you're like, _Why didn't you tell us that?! _Well, I wanted to see who could get the 100th review honestly. And I can't believe I finally got to one hundred reviews! O my gods!**

**Thanks so much for sticking with me all this time, and I seriously can't believe I'm finishing my third book in a series that I started in June, four months ago.**

**I'll do another chapter thanking everyone, and then this book will be complete!**

**theHuntress101, I need that OC very, very soon!**

**To Guests: I will reply to you in the next chapter! Yes, all of you.**

**Please review! You guys are awesome, you know that? (::) (::) (::) (::)**


	30. Thank you so much!

**I have made it at or over 100 reviews on two of my stories! I love you all! Jeez, 124 reviews!**

**I have a special thank you to all the people who reviewed:**

**Myrna** **Maeve**: The first reviewer, and thanks for sticking with me!

**KJtheELMtree**: Thank you for sticking with me, for both this book and What the Hades?!

**LatinAmericanGirl**: Not entirely sure if you're still following this story, but if you are, I appreciate the reviews and encouragement at the beginning!

**irishpixie823**: I love your reviews since they either provide an idea, a laugh, or a correction! Thanks!

**Lunabear505**: Thanks for the review!

**bhz**: Thank you for providing encouragement.

** .APHRODITE01:** Thanks for reviewing and your welcome!

**Gaia was Framed:** You've been a staunch supporter of all my books, and I thank you for that! (::) (::) (::)

**creamtherabbit77:** You have also been a staunch supporter and slight critizer (don't worry, I like that!) of this book, and thank you for it!

**Heddy12311:** Thanks for reviewing on my story, and I love yours!

**trustingHim17:** I appreciate the critism on What the Hades, and thanks for reviewing!

**sfu99:** How did you come by your username? Thanks for reviewing!

**theHuntress101:** I need that OC by Friday, I hope you got that... Thank you for reviewing!

**I don't know why, but I find it funny that I have more favorites than follows. Thank you for favoriting:**

.APHRODITE01

Gaia was Framed

Heddy12311

KJtheELMtree

LatinAmericanGirl

Lunabear505

Myrna Maeve

Sunleaves17

bhz

creamtherabbit77

percyjacksonfan327

sfu99

theHuntress101

.APHRODITE01

Gaia was Framed

Heddy12311

KJtheELMtree

Kage Nightray

LatinAmericanGirl

creamtherabbit77

percyjacksonfan327

sfu99

trustingHim17

**I ask, "What is it with all the numbers with the number '7' in it?" Would someone care to answer me?**

**Freezing Silence will be posted (theHuntress101 willing) next Saturday. sfu99, I will be using that idea, but in a different way than I thought.**

**I hope to see everyone in the next book, so long for now! The next book I will be changing my author notes.**

**guests/anons:**

Chapter 1:

Guest: Well, I hope this satisfied you! You like it? Maybe not so many Romans or Egyptians in there, but plenty of action!

the guest: I'm glad you liked it!

Chapter 2:

Guest: I made up the lyrics.

Chapter 5:

The Greek one. Apophis was defeated already in my books, like, a looooooong time ago.

Chapter 6:

Guest: That was a really long rant, and when the SoM comes out, I'll add it to everyone else's including mine.

Chapter 7:

Guest: Thanks!

Chapter 8:

Helen: I'm glad you love my stories!

Artemis' Hunters: Did the story answer your questions?

Chapter 9:

Guest: It's JaCe, and yeah, I don't think I managed your suggestion very well...sorry!

Chapter 10:

Artemis' Hunters: Well, she was mad, and rage can give you awesome strength... Louisa wasn't around when her mother was slaughtered.

Chapter 11:

Artemis' Hunters: Did it straighten itself out?

Chapter 14:

Artemis' Hunters: No, no, Tartarus got a taste of his own medicine capturing Percy already. I doubt he would do it again.

Chapter 15:

Artemis' Hunters: My fingers seem determined to spell your username wrong...getting very annoying. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter!

Chapter 16:

Artemis' Hunters: Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

Chapter 17:

Artemis' Hunters: You kind of reviewed twice on the same chapter, but no matter. Did what happen suit you?

Chapter 18:

Artemis' Hunters: Aiden was a demigod of Hecate, or Trivia, if you want to go Roman.

Chapter 19:

Guest: Well, I think I did that subconciously... I know I didn't do that on purpose! )

Artemis' Hunters: Like I said to Guest, I think I did that subconciously. I realized it after I saw both of your reviews, but I hope you liked it!

Chapter 20:

Artemis' Hunters: Yeah, strangely, I came up with that while brushing my hair...

Chapter 22:

Artemis' Hunters: The Romans arrived when Louisa was conked out. They got a bit impatient...

Chapter 26:

anonymous: Well, not always. Sometimes people just skip over the ANs and review.

Guest: I'm glad you like my story, and thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 29:

Guest: Ohh-kay? The next one will be up on Saturday, hopefully...

**To all: I will be changing my ANs to something more organized, and I'll reply to any and all anon reviewers from the former chapter (this means that chapter one's anons will be on chapter two). I hope you all liked reading this story and had as much fun as I did as writing it!**


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